Covid restrictions prevent Halifax man seeing dying wife
A man who was prevented from seeing his dying wife in hospital due to coronavirus restrictions has called for the NHS trust to use "common sense".
Craig Sunderland's wife Helen died from pneumonia at Calderdale Royal Hospital in Halifax two weeks ago. She deteriorated rapidly and Mr Sunderland was unable to see her before she died. The hospital trust said visiting restrictions were in place to protect patients, relatives and staff. Mr Sunderland, from Halifax, said not being at his wife's bedside had left him feeling "absolutely devastated". "If I'd held her hand I'd have felt better," he said. "She'd have felt better and it was just knowing we were there for one another. Not having that just hurt." He added: "Pubs were open. People who didn't really know each other could go and see each other, but I couldn't see my wife who I'd been with for 23 years." Director of nursing at Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust Ellen Armistead, offered Mr Sunderland her "sincere condolences" and added the trust recognised "the impact not being able to visit in these circumstances will have had on Mrs Sunderland's loved ones". "Where patients are receiving end of life care then visiting is permitted," she said. "Sadly where a patient's condition deteriorates rapidly or unexpectedly it is not always possible to put this in place, which is what happened on this occasion." Mr Sunderland called on the trust to relax its rules. "If somebody's tested negative for Covid two or three times and they're quite low risk. They've got to use common sense and let people see loved ones," he said. Follow BBC Yorkshire on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to yorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk or send video here.