Ollie Bibby: hospital apologises to mother unable to visit dying son

University College London Hospital (UCLH) has apologised to parents who were denied joint visits to their dying son because of Covid.

Ollie Bibby died aged 27 at UCLH on 5 May – the day before Matt Hancock was captured breaking Covid rules – after being diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia, a cancer of the white blood cells, in 2016.

However, his mother, Penny, said she and her husband were treated “like criminals” for attempting to visit their son in the hospital.

She said Mr Bibby had been alone in hospital since March and that the experience was “horrific” for him and that he was “begging” to see his family during his stay.

She said: “It was clear that the hospital did not want us there. We felt like we were criminals. The security staff would be better off at a nightclub, they were so aggressive.”

The case was brought into the limelight this week as Labour leader Kier Starmer discussed it in the first Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) following the resignation of Matt Hancock.

Today, Mrs Bibby received a letter of apology from Tim Jaggard, acting chief executive of UCLH, which said the hospital would review its visiting rules in line with the national guidance.

“This is the outcome we wanted,” Mrs Bibby told BBC News. “We just don’t want any other families to go through this.”

In the letter, Mr Jaggard wrote: “Many of our patients are extremely vulnerable, and we have had to balance the need to keep them safe from a new and serious disease, against a need to show compassion for individual circumstances.

“I am sorry if we did not get this balance right for you and Ollie.”

In a statement, UCLH said that visiting restrictions have been “one of the most challenging aspects of the pandemic” for patients, families, and staff. It added that the hospital treats many “extremely vulnerable” patients and had to prioritise their safety.

However, it said a balance between safety and “compassion for patients’ individual circumstances” had to be struck, and its staff “do have some scope for discretion around visiting”, which had been exercised in the case of Mr Bibby’s family, “for whom additional visiting arrangements were put in place”.

It said: “We are reviewing how we implement national visiting guidance during the pandemic and listening to what our patients and their families tell us about the impact it has on their care.

“We are in contact with Oliver’s family to learn from their experiences and our deepest sympathies go to his parents, brothers and wider family and friends at this very difficult time.”