In November 2014 Julia Jones founded John’s Campaign with Nicci Gerrard in the wake of the death of Dr. John Gerrard, Nicci’s father. Behind its simple statement of purpose lies the belief that carers should not just be allowed but should be welcomed, and that a collaboration between the patients and all connected with them is crucial to their health and their well-being. John’s Campaign applies to all hospital settings (acute, community, mental health…) - and its principles could (and have begun to) extend to all other caring institutions where people are living away from those closest to them (homes, hospices…). In the time since the campaign was founded many institutions have pledged support and progress has been made - but the covid pandemic challenged everyone’s understanding of importance of personal support against the requirements of infection control. The most vulnerable suffered most as they so often do. Johns Campaign was driven to challenge the government by Judicial Review and will now seek to become core participants in the forthcoming public enquiry.
There’s an active informative blogspot on the John’s Campaign website. Do visit if you’re interested.