Ease rule on hospital visits

07 Nov 2003, Streats

Question

Name of the Person: Azlinda Ismail

Ease rule on hospital visits

I would like to comment on the current "four nominate visitors per patient" rule in hospitals, under which patients must nominate four visitors and only they are allowed to visit the patient throughout his or her stay in hospital.

I know that it is a precautionary measure put in place by the Ministry of Health to prevent the spread of Sars.andnbsp; But I believe that visitors also play a very important role in the recovery of patients.

A patient might have more than four children or siblings (relatives), and I'm sure that all of these people would like to visit and give the sick relative moral support, especially before and after surgery.

Furthermore, it is very taxing for the same four nominated visitors to visit the patient everyday, especially if the hospitalisation lasts for months.

Since it is important to limit the number of visitors a patient receives each day, why not change this rule to something such as "two fixed nominated visitors plus two other visitors per patient per day"?

This way, at least other family members could take turns in visiting the patient each day.andnbsp; I'm sure all patients and family members would appreciate this

I feel that as long as each hospital scans in the NRIC of every visitor (as is the practice), there should be no problem if a visitor needs to be traced.

Reply

Reply from MOH

Rulings are to protect visitors

In "Ease rule on hospital visits" published in Streats, 7 Nov, Ms Azlinda Ismail asked for a relaxation of hospital visitation rules.

The Ministry understands the inconveniences caused to some families as a result of the "four nominated visitors per patient" rule.andnbsp; The ruling in hospitals was put in place to minimise the number of visitors who could potentially be infected should SARS recur.andnbsp; Our past experience had indicated that most SARS patients caught the virus in the hospital setting.andnbsp; By limiting the number of visitors, we hope to significantly reduce public health risk should SARS recur.

We agree that visitors do play an important role in patient recovery. As such, hospitals have been given the flexibility to decide whether a patient can have more visitors on a case-by-case basis.