"Harmful visitor restrictions"

After choking through the channels and complaining about Eastern Health's visitor restrictions and how poorly I felt they were done and outdated and how each individual is interpreting them differently. Eastern Health had decided to ‘update them’ barely, in my opinion, they have made it now even harder for visitors to see patients. Making you have to call the ward/nurse in charge prior to visiting. 

How is this even possible when calls go unanswered for hours on end, I found that when I do get in contact with staff, the NIC is not available or not on that day or won’t return a call and based on my experience, heaven forbid I actually get a nurse that says they can’t help me with that and hangs up on me multiple times. 

At Peter James Centre, I believe we have jumped through all their hoops and yet we are denied access. Why? Why are you keeping your patients locked down? ‘Utilise virtual visits’ that might work for the younger generation or someone who hasn’t sustained a brain injury. But again, it seems the NIC determines our visits are not needed, yet I recall the patient is asking the nursing staff to help call the family daily and crying on the phone for them to visit. The patient having memory issues and is physically deficit, and unable to do these things on their own. How can one advocate for a patient and ensure their emotional and mental wellbeing is being considered when one is not allowed to visit.