Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department issues to hospitals on visiting times for friends and family.

Contact with family and friends is fundamental to the health and wellbeing of residents in care homes and people in hospital. We have worked with NHS England and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to develop the policy options to strengthen the expectation for care providers and hospitals in England to allow visiting. This included introducing secondary legislation to amend CQC regulations. Further information on CQC regulations, specifically Regulation 9A: Visiting and accompanying in care homes, hospitals and hospices, is available at the following link:

https://www.cqc.org.uk/guidance-providers/regulations/regulation-9a-visiting-and-accompanying