Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the level of the provision of video telephoning facilities for patients in hospital that cannot have visitors during the covid-19 outbreak.

Ensuring patients can contact their family and friends during their stay in hospital is critical to their wellbeing and morale at all times. National Health Service providers are locally responsible for providing this, though its provision will depend on the clinical treatment being received and the facilities being utilised. In many cases this will involve utilisation of the patient’s own technology such as a smartphone, but consideration needs to be given by NHS trusts to alternative methods to ensure patients have the services they need.