Tearful families who were unable to say goodbye to their loved ones during the Covid pandemic pleaded with MPs to change the law so it never happens again.
Today campaigners called for Gloria's Law - named after the mother of West End superstar Ruthie Henshall - to be brought in. This would ensure at least one relative or friend can always have contact with patients in hospitals or care settings.
Former I'm A Celeb star Ruthie said she is "haunted" that her mother thought she'd been abandoned by her family.
Care minister Helen Whately was among MPs who heard the devastating impact separation had during the pandemic, and the urgent need change the law.
Among the speakers sharing their heartbreaking testimonies was Hazel Leech, who said her mum Barbara Skinner, 95, didn't understand why she couldn't see her family after being admitted to a care home in 2020.
Hazel told MPs: "She was a prisoner inside her care home... she was incarcerated in her room."
Recounting a harrowing call from her mum during lockdown she said: "In week six she rang me unexpectedly and told me we had 'abandoned her', that she had had 'enough' and that we should get on with our lives without her.
"I was distraught, yet powerless."
Hazel said: "It's too late for me and my dear mum. We lost the last year of her life but we're determined to fight to make sure no vulnerable person is left to face such a devastating ordeal on their own.
"The inhumanity I've described must never be allowed to happen again."
The Mirror is supporting the call for every hospital patient or person in a care home or hospice to always have the support of one family member or friend.
Former I'm A Celeb star Ruthie told MPs that getting the legislation through would be the biggest achievement of her life.
Describing her mother's final months she said: "I'm haunted that she thought we'd abandoned her for a year."
And she told The Mirror: "I watched her dying through a window, I was completely powerless.
"I had no say over my mother's care."
Diane Mayhew, Campaign Manager of Care Rights UK, said she has suffered PTSD after her dad Alan died after contracting Covid.
She told The Mirror: "My mum should have been there to comfort him.
"When I think of my dad I think about him lying in bed and thinking where are any of my family, it's just incomprehensible."
Diane, who has campaigned for the law to be changed for the last three years, said: "When I get this, my dad will be so proud. That's all I can do for him now."
Labour MP Dan Carden presented a 10-minute motion to the Commons calling for Gloria's Law to be introduced.
He said that families' rights had been "squashed" by care providers, and said: "When that begins to happen it's our job to stand up and make sure that the legal protections are there."
Labour's shadow social care minister Liz Kendall said: "We welcome this Bill, ending the scandal of blanket visiting bans so that nobody in a health or care setting is left on their own again."
And Tory care minister Ms Whately said: "I know from my own experience how important being there for someone you love is both for them and yourself."
And she told MPs: "I can assure you we will be bringing forward a similar announcement on this."
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