They slept by her bed, they fed her, comforted her, and they all said everything they needed to say.

I love you. Thank you. Goodbye.

But Nada Pajakovski and Elka Catalovski said it was precious time together they would have been denied had they not moved her from the Calvary Mater's Mercy Hospice to Warners Bay Private.

Their 88-year-old mother, who had cervical cancer, had been happy at the hospice for five weeks before strict visiting conditions were put in place due to COVID-19.

"We were told we could only have one visitor for the duration of her admission, until the end," Ms Pajakovski said. "That was not one at a time. We had to choose which one of us could see her, and be with her, until she died. Everyone else, including my sister, would have to Facetime."

Ms Pajakovski said they were told they could have a second support person in the room in the final 12 hours of their mother's life.

"Which I thought was a bit rough. We both did," she said. "Other patients did too.

"In the last 12 hours, they are comatose. The time they need their family is when they are alert and awake."

Ms Pajakovski said they approached the Calvary Mater general manager, Mark Jeffrey, to ask for some leniency.

They suggested one of them could stand in the courtyard outside their mother's room, and talk - or even wave - from outside the glass sliding door. But there were no exceptions.

They felt the decision was unreasonable in the circumstances.

They were devastated, and distraught.

"With the coronavirus, I was happy to sacrifice and do whatever it took. I am proud of what everyone has done, but this put a bad taste in my mouth. It was cruel," she said. "For the rest of the hospital, that rule is fine. I am all for it. But those people will eventually go home, they will eventually continue their lives. See their loved ones.

"You can't apply the same burden on the families who don't have much time left.

"It is like they've been terminated before their time."

They said management had argued that if their mother died, only 10 people would be allowed at the funeral.

"I said it won't matter afterwards. Mum won't care - she isn't going to be conscious," Ms Pajakovski said.

They were told nursing homes could not have visitors.

"But people in nursing homes could be there for years before they pass away," she said. "They really pushed us into a corner, emotionally.

"The staff there are beautiful - don't get me wrong, this was not their fault. But it was just so tragic that at this time of her life, we had to beg, and then find a way, to have access to her. We are the ones she wanted to see. Not the nurses all day every day."

Ms Pajakovski said it was fortunate their mother had private health insurance, because they were able to transfer her to Warners Bay Private - where both sisters could be with her.

Mrs Cacorovski was transferred on April 3.

She died on April 22.

"We didn't know it was going to happen so quickly," Ms Pajakovski said.

"At least we were together.

"That time with her was so important. So precious.

"It is the closest you'll ever be to a relative, in the circumstances - knowing what is going to happen.

"Mum would ask me, 'Why are you taking such good care of me?' And I'd say, 'Well you looked after me for all these years, it's my turn to look after you'.

"She would cry. I would cry. There were moments like that that you might not normally say because life gets in the way."

Dr Allan Kirkpatrick, who cared for Mrs Cacorovski at Warners Bay Private, said he was "perplexed" by the Mater's inflexibility in the exceptional circumstances.

"You can understand that in the emergency department you don't want people coming and going," he said. "I think they could have let Nada and Elka share the visits, to take it in turns, with adequate screening.

"To know your loved one is still alive, behind a door in a hospital, and you're not allowed to go in there... Even in those last few days, when they might be in a coma, it is just so healing for the family to talk to each other and reminisce around the bed."

Calvary Mater general manager Mark Jeffrey offered his condolences to the family via a statement.

"Mrs Cacorovski's family requested more flexibility with visiting arrangements and I'm very sorry that we didn't meet their expectations and caused them distress in what was a very difficult time," he said. "Like health services and aged care facilities across NSW, Calvary Mater Newcastle had to make the very difficult but necessary decision to limit patient visitors during the pandemic to help stop the spread of COVID-19 and to protect our patients, our staff and the community.

"Throughout the pandemic, patients at the Mercy Hospice were considered amongst our most vulnerable."

Mr Jeffrey said that as the number of COVID-19 cases reduced and community transmission remained low, they had gradually relaxed visitor restrictions.

Two people could now visit a patient.

"I understand that COVID-19 visiting restrictions can be distressing for some families who have a loved one in hospital. We consider each situation individually and do make exceptions to visiting arrangements depending on circumstances, while still protecting the most vulnerable patients in our care," he said.