It may seem like long ago that, for a period, visiting a loved one who was a patient in a public hospital was a logistical exercise, if it was allowed at all. That was, of course, during the Covid-19 pandemic. Visiting hours and the number of visitors allowed at any one time were limited. Visitors were permitted only on production of negative rapid antigen test or nucleic acid test results, and proof of vaccination.

That such measures were accepted as necessary says something about the times and public health priorities then. We are reminded of how much they have changed by the latest relaxation of visiting hours by the Hospital Authority.

This is welcome, and not just by comparison with previous draconian measures, but because it reflects an enlightened approach seen as positive for patients’ emotional welfare.

Public hospitals will extend visiting hours at all rehabilitation and palliative wards from five to nine hours a day by the end of July. The authority will also enable round-the-clock visits at all paediatric wards by the end of July, in addition to allowing one carer to stay overnight with child patients.

Hospitals in Kowloon Central and New Territories West have already extended their visiting hours. The scheme, which covers rehabilitation, infirmary, palliative and paediatric wards, will encompass around 168, or about 20 per cent, of public hospital wards, and the authority will consider whether it could also be applied to acute wards.

At some hospitals focusing on rehabilitation care that have been trialling extended visiting hours, senior nurses say patients show improvement with more frequent visits from loved ones. Estella Lo Lai-chu, general manager of nursing at the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Fung Yiu King Hospital, said elderly patients felt more secure emotionally when family members could visit them more often during extended hours. Cheung Shuk-yee, operations manager at Sha Tin Hospital’s department of medicine and geriatrics, said extended visiting hours at the hospital’s internal medicine and surgery rehabilitation wards had helped reduce anxiety in patients and enabled family members to learn care skills.