Grandmother goes 5 weeks without visits amid COVID lockdown at Dartmouth General

A Dartmouth woman is calling for change after she was unable to visit her grandmother at the hospital for five weeks because of a COVID-19 lockdown at the Dartmouth General Hospital.

Kim Piccott said her 95-year-old grandmother, Evelyn Jeanne Bligh, died last week shortly after entering palliative care at the hospital. She was able to visit her grandmother before she died.

Bligh, who went by her middle name, was admitted to hospital for surgery after fracturing a hip Sept. 3. The lockdown began two weeks into her hospital stay.

Piccott said while Bligh had been recovering well, her health took a turn when she could no longer have visitors.

"The woman we had seen on Sept. 20 was no longer the woman we saw on Oct. 25," said Piccott. "So, she had lost 10 pounds, she was no longer wearing her teeth, her hair hadn't been washed or brushed, her hands, her toenails, her fingernails — they were long ... she didn't seem well kept," Piccott told CBC's Information Morning Halifax on Wednesday.

"... She was just sad, kind of withdrawn, didn't obviously have anything to talk about. And she just, more than anything, was so happy to see us, but also so weak at the same time."

Piccott said she believes if her grandmother was able to have just one designated-care person to visit during the lockdown, it could have made a difference because "that is a critical piece to patient recovery."

Family support needed

"I feel when we have a COVID lockdown situation happening, the nurses are so short-staffed, they are trying their best, they really are," Piccott said in a followup interview Friday.

"But if you're not allowing a [power of attorney] or a personal-care person to come in and facilitate with all those little daily tasks like opening the Boost, putting a straw in the apple juice, helping to brush the teeth ... those elements of daily care are being neglected, they just don't have the staff to do it."

Piccott said Nova Scotia Health also must reconsider its current policy for visitors under 16. Children under 16 are currently not allowed to visit, though there are some exceptions made for compassionate reasons.

"Regardless of a COVID lockdown or not, if children are not allowed into the hospital, there are mothers and aunts and grandparents that are in the hospital who are not able to see their children. And to me, that's wrong," Piccott said.

10 outbreaks in 2 months

The Nova Scotia Health Authority said there were 10 COVID outbreaks in the central zone in September and October. That covers the area that includes the Dartmouth General Hospital.

As of Thursday, there were no COVID-19 outbreaks in the central zone.

"When there is an outbreak on a unit, additional visitor restrictions may be put in place to help stop the spread of COVID-19. This decision is made between the unit, the outbreak management team, and the infection prevention and control team," the health authority told CBC News in an email.

"Essential care partners are always allowed for compassionate reasons, such as if the patient is dying. They can also be allowed when they are needed for patient well-being. This decision is made by the care team."

Restrictions for essential care partners can vary. "Teams consider many factors in making these decisions, including whether patients are in shared rooms, and whether there continue to be new cases of COVID-19 on the unit," according to the email.

Restrictions can be necessary, union says

In a statement to CBC News on Thursday, Nova Scotia Nurses' Union president Janet Hazelton said that while families play an important role in helping patients heal, there are times when "it's in the best interest of our vulnerable populations to enhance protections during times of heightened risk."

"We must defer to guidelines for infection, prevention, and controls, even if it means an unfair burden is placed on nurses and family members."

But, she said "hospital administrators must strike a balance between safeguarding workers, patients and families while not imposing further hardships by appropriately resourcing our health-care system with more staff."

Families valued, Nova Scotia Health says

Piccott said it was important to speak out about what happened because of all the people currently in hospital who are trying to recover from surgeries and health conditions.

She said she is grateful she was able to spend time with her grandmother before she died.

"It was so wonderful to have the days we had post that COVID lockdown. We did get visits in for the last seven days so I'm thankful for that. I just wish my children could have been able to come in and say their goodbyes," she said.

Piccott said her children were granted permission on Wednesday and had planned to visit Thursday, but it was too late.

After hearing Piccott's story on radio, Linda Spears, a retired nurse from Dartmouth, told Information Morning she went through a similar experience with her ailing husband last spring.

Spears said she was part of a group that fought to get visitation at long-term care homes, which resulted in her getting designated-care status.

She said after hearing Piccott's interview, she was surprised to learn hospitals didn't have a similar policy.

"There's no reason why they can't have it, none whatsoever," Spears said.

Nova Scotia Health removed designated COVID-19 units from hospitals over the summer and switched to a "care-in-place model," which means all patients are treated in whichever unit or facility of the hospital that meets their needs, regardless of COVID-19 status.