As a person who has an elderly relative suffering from coronavirus in the Royal Blackburn Hospital, not only can you not visit them or see them -which I understand - but the only way you can contact them is either by mobile phone or via the telephone next to the hospital bed.
The problem with a mobile phone is that a lot of elderly people can’t use them and even if they can there is no signal in most of the hospital.
This leaves the only contact option to be the phone that they leave next to the hospital bed. But it’s a premium phone line which when phoned from a mobile charges you per minute and also carries a service charge.
Talking to our family member this way over five days has so far cost us nearly £30 on top of our mobile plan.
What a disgrace to be making money and charging people in the current climate.
These patients need contact with their family and luckily we can afford it, but lots of others aren’t so lucky.
Mr D King