Petition · past parliament
Cease visiting hours on maternity wards until COVID-19 is under control.
Rejected
18 signatures
What the petition asks
To avoid the further spend of COVID-19 to vulnerable patients, visiting hours to maternity wards should be ceased immediately. Allowing the general public into these wards each day is creating a further risk. Instead consider “digital visiting hours” where women can use phones for contact instead.
The current advice is for pregnant women to avoid social contact. Some pregnant women will also fall into other vulnerable categories (asthma, diabetes for example): making them even more vulnerable. Yet hospitals are still having visiting hours and increasing the risk. As an asthmatic mother, about to give birth, after loosing 2 babies previously, this is a huge concern. My family have waited 4 years to meet our baby, and are willing to wait a few more months to avoid spreading this virus.
Why it was rejected
It asked for something that is not the responsibility of the UK Government or Parliament.
Arrangements for hospital visits are operational decisions for individual NHS Trusts, not the Government or Parliament.
The NHS has stated that to help stop the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), most hospitals have stopped or significantly limited visits. You can check the website for individual hospitals to find out what their advice is.
You can find out more about coronavirus and how you can protect yourself and others here:
www.gov.uk/coronavirus
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
The Government has also created an online service to help you out what you can do if you’re struggling because of coronavirus: https://www.gov.uk/find-coronavirus-support
You can read NHS tips to help if you are worried about coronavirus here: https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/coronavirus-covid-19-anxiety-tips
You can read impartial analysis of the Government response to coronavirus and policy developments here:
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/coronavirus/
You may also be interested to know that because of the large number of petitions that have been started in relation to coronavirus, the Petitions Committee has been questioning the Government about its response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Find out more and watch the Committee put questions suggested by petitioners to Government Ministers and the Deputy Chief Medical Officer: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/news/145767/committee-question-deputy-chief-medical-officer-and-ministers-on-coronavirus-response/
Read letters asking further questions of Government Ministers: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/publications/3/correspondence/
The NHS has stated that to help stop the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), most hospitals have stopped or significantly limited visits. You can check the website for individual hospitals to find out what their advice is.
You can find out more about coronavirus and how you can protect yourself and others here:
www.gov.uk/coronavirus
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
The Government has also created an online service to help you out what you can do if you’re struggling because of coronavirus: https://www.gov.uk/find-coronavirus-support
You can read NHS tips to help if you are worried about coronavirus here: https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/coronavirus-covid-19-anxiety-tips
You can read impartial analysis of the Government response to coronavirus and policy developments here:
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/coronavirus/
You may also be interested to know that because of the large number of petitions that have been started in relation to coronavirus, the Petitions Committee has been questioning the Government about its response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Find out more and watch the Committee put questions suggested by petitioners to Government Ministers and the Deputy Chief Medical Officer: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/news/145767/committee-question-deputy-chief-medical-officer-and-ministers-on-coronavirus-response/
Read letters asking further questions of Government Ministers: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/publications/3/correspondence/
Timeline
| 23 Mar 2020 | Petition opened for signatures |
| 28 Apr 2020 | Rejected by the Petitions Committee |
Key facts
Signatures
18
Status
Rejected
Rejected
28 Apr 2020
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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.