Les Bourgs visits to resume

Thursday 09 April 2020

A devastated daughter who was this week told she couldn't be with her mum in her final days, has now been told she will be allowed to visit her at Les Bourgs Hospice, despite the extended lockdown over the Bailiwick.

The woman, who we have chosen not to identify, had been allowed to visit her parent at Les Bourgs until this week, when she was told on Tuesday that she had to say goodbye as the Hospice was closing to all visitors.

Earlier that day, it had been confirmed that the 14 day lockdown the Bailiwick had been put into to try and contain and slow the spread of corona virus, was being extended and would be reviewed on 18 April. 

Following that announcement, it is claimed Les Bourgs Hospice was told by the Civil Contingencies Authority, acting on the advice of Public Health, to stop all visits and that staff there told patients' relatives that they would no longer be able to visit.

Pictured: Visits to the hospital had already been stopped, but visits by immediate family members only had been allowed to continue at Les Bourgs Hospice, until this week.

The decision to stop all visitors to Les Bourgs Hospice took some people by surprise, as the immediate family members of the patients currently resident at the hospice had been allowed access until Tuesday.

Visits to the Princess Elizabeth Hospital had been stopped last month, while the island's numerous residential, care and nursing homes had also stopped visitors and implemented their own 'lockdown' before the official measures were imposed on the Bailiwick. 

The woman who reached out to Express for help on Tuesday evening had been allowed to visit her mum until then though, and was then distraught to be told she could no longer do so.

“When I first was told that we weren’t able to see my mum any longer, I was overcome with grief. We’ve been with her every step of the way since diagnosis for over three years, then to not be there for her when she needs us the most is just heartbreaking.

"Walking out of her hospice room after kissing her goodbye knowing we wouldn’t be able to spend her last days with her was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do."

The woman asked if there was a way visits could continue, to even see her mum through the glass door which separates her bedroom from the gardens, but was initially told that could not be allowed.

However, following further discussions, including personal messages sent to Deputy Laurie Queripel who intervened on behalf of the family, and messages to Deputies Gavin St Pier and Heidi Soulsby, visits will be allowed to continue for terminally ill patients at Les Bourgs Hospice following 'individual assessments'.

Pictured: Les Bourgs Hospice has a number of in-patients rooms with direct access to and from the gardens. 

Those visits will have to be controlled and safety measures will be arranged, a States' press release said: 

'Hospice - No routine visiting, but end of life visits will be individually assessed. Where visits can be safely accommodated with appropriate safety measures, then staff may allow it under controlled circumstances' - Statement issued by the States of Guernsey. It can be read in full HERE. 

This allowance has given some comfort to the relatives of those at Les Bourgs Hospice, who are terminally ill and are on end of life care.

“I am so relieved that the States have been able to find a safe way in which we can be with my mum in her final days. I will forever be extremely grateful,” the daughter of one patient told Express.

Les Bourgs Hospice issued a statement on its website today clarifying who may visit and why others have had to stop for now. 

"Les Bourgs Hospice welcomes Public Health’s reconsideration of their directive in respect of permissions regarding the visiting of patients by relatives.

"Following their release of a media statement last night (Wednesday), the position has been reviewed and we are now allowed to revert to the policy that we have had in place for a few weeks.

"This stipulates that there is a no visiting policy for patients who are stable and remaining in our care due to external pressures in community and residential settings.

"However for those patients who are receiving end of life care here close family members may visit singularly for a short time providing they are self- isolating at home, symptom free and adhere to the social distancing and hand hygiene requirements we have in place."

Pictured: One of the rooms at Les Bourgs Hospice. 

While visits to terminally ill patients at Les Bourgs Hospice are now allowed to continue based on individual assessment, there is still a ban on visitors to care homes across the Bailiwick, while 'end of life visiting' will be considered at the hospital. 

The States media release said: 

Care Homes - no visits are allowed by family and friends for the foreseeable future. This is important protect the staff and residents. The outbreaks we have seen in the homes have been shown how vulnerable these settings are, and these measures are considered essential in the circumstances. This will be kept under constant review.

Hospice - No routine visiting, but end of life visits will be individually assessed. Where visits can be safely accommodated with appropriate safety measures, then staff may allow it under controlled circumstances.

Hospital -visits will not be allowed on COVID-19 wards or with COVID-19 patients. In other wards routine visiting cannot be allowed, but end of life visiting will be looked at on a compassionate case by case basis. Such visits will only be allowed if they can be managed safely. In general even this visiting will be discouraged.

To read the statement from the States in full click HERE.