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 that parents and caregivers can be present with young people at hospital appointments in all NHS Trusts.
We understand the need for young people to be accompanied by their parents and caregivers at appointments and recommend that patients be accompanied where appropriate and necessary. The current guidance, published on 13 October 2020, allows visiting in outpatient and diagnostic settings in a COVID-19 secure way. This guidance was developed by NHS England and NHS Improvement’s clinical cell, overseen by a multidisciplinary group including colleagues from children and young people’s teams.