Grief-stricken Ruthie Henshall says she still cannot pass a care home without feeling inconsolable.

The I'm A Celebrity star watched as her mother died helpless and alone at the height of the Covid pandemic and is now a campaigner for better care.

Actress Ruthie, 57, was banned from hugging or holding former teacher Gloria who battled Parkinson's and dementia before her death aged 87 in 2021.

Gloria's Law - named after her mother - would give everyone a legal right to a care supporter, a close friend or relative, in all health and care settings to provide emotional support, advocacy, and essential human contact when needed.

The Government announced today that patients and residents in care homes, hospitals and hospices will no longer be cut off from their loved ones unless in "exceptional circumstances" in the first major response to a push that was started by Ruthie and grassroots campaign group Rights for Residents.

It has waged a six year crusade to strengthen visiting rights and end blanket bans that were commonplace during the pandemic and stopped families hugging or holding stricken loved ones.

Ruthie, 59, told the Express: "This should never have happened and I still can't go past a care home without feeling sad - and I drive past one every single day.

"I don't know whether it will ever stop making me feel sad and, just like hundreds of thousands of others in similar circumstances, I will never get over it."

The Government has vowed to strengthen visiting rights by bringing forward proposals for legislative changes that promote the importance of family and carers as equal partners.

Mum-of-two Ruthie said: "We will not let this happen again and I will always speak out because we can't just let politicians think something is fit for purpose when it is not. We can't leave it to them.

"I think we are finally going in the right direction and anything that provides better human rights is a good thing, but this is something that should have always happened. We have always known it's better for the person in the care home and the family. It is why we will never give up.

"I give this a cautious welcome and if people are finally getting the message it is a good thing, but that is completely down to Rights for Residents who did not give up."

As draconian diktats were enforced by care homes across Britain, often on a whim, hundreds of thousands of families were effectively banned from seeing dying loved ones.

The scandal prompted Ruthie to join Rights for Residents as ambassador.

At the time Gloria was isolated and in desperate need of love and support. Today Ruthie continues to fight for unrestricted access and a law change in her mum's honour.

Speaking to the Express previously she said: "If I have dementia, and I have any capacity, there is no way I am going into a care home because there is no way I am giving that burden to my children. What I witnessed and what went through with mum was so horrific.

"The appalling thing is absolutely no one took stock of just how bad things were or addressed some of the things that were going on. They still haven't and they are still going on. There are still people who are not allowed in care homes and the problem very much hasn't gone away. That is why we need Gloria's Law.

"And what people don't realise is it could be you, it could be me, waking up in one of these sub-par care homes not being allowed to see loved ones. How is that going to feel?

"It hasn't got anything to do with Covid. The pandemic just highlighted it and gave them [providers] control and power to exercise when they felt like it."

Ministers are now considering bringing forward legislation as part of wider care sector reforms.

Care minister Stephen Kinnock said: "No one should be separated from their loved ones unnecessarily. Contact with family and friends should not be seen as a luxury but a basic part of good care.

"This system must work for residents, patients and their loved ones and we are ensuring it does."