After a friend phoned her in tears because he couldn't visit his vulnerable mum - who has dementia - in hospital, TV star and mental health campaigner Denise Welch has spoken out about why she thinks letting people visit family in hospital is vital.
Though her friend has now since been able to visit his mum in South Tyneside Hospital - and the South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Trust has since announced plans to ease visiting restrictions generally from Monday - Denise told ChronicleLive it was a wider issue - and she feared for the mental health of vulnerable people suffering in hospitals up and down the UK.
Denise said: "It's a wider issue than just my friend - and it's a wider issue that I don't think is being talked about enough. Now that the war in Ukraine is happening, people are forgetting about Covid.
