Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure patients in hospitals in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England are allowed safe and regular visits from family members.

National guidance on how National Health Service hospitals may facilitate visits was in place during the pandemic. However, visiting policies have now returned to the discretion of local NHS trusts and other NHS bodies in England, based on national principles, to make an assessment of the appropriate visiting arrangements given local prevalence of COVID-19 and the design of facilities.