Health minister announces families can visit residents inside care homes in England 'very soon'

Families will be allowed to visit residents inside care homes in England and hints it could be as soon as ‘next week’ if the home is 'COVID-secure', according to Matt Hancock.

The health and social care secretary said announcements will be made ‘over the next few days’ to allow relatives and friends to visit residents indoors ‘in a way that keeps care homes safe.'

Mr Hancock said: “People are yearning to see their loved ones and the residents of care homes get so much from visitors.

"It's been a very, very long period and that period where there hasn’t been any visiting to care homes, that’s coming to an end very soon."

This announcement comes after charities including Dementia UK, The Alzheimer's Society and Alzheimer's Research wrote to Mr Hancock to demand people with dementia in care homes be allowed visitors. The letter called on the government to 'urgently' address the 'hidden catastrophe' happening in care homes.

’It has been distressing for both sides to be physically apart for so long’

In March, care homes all over the UK took the decision to stop family and friends visiting residents due to the vulnerable and elderly being most of risk of catching COVID-19.

In some care homes, staff even went into lockdown with residents to protect them from the disease. Many care homes have come up with innovative ways so residents can still see their families such as visits through the window, video calls and hosting a drive-thru.

The Independent Care Group (ICG) chair Mike Padgham said: “The announcement is a positive one and will be welcomed by thousands of care and nursing home residents and their loved ones who have endured separation now for many, many weeks.

“It is really important that we can reunite our residents with their families, as it has been distressing for both sides to be physically apart for so long. The sector has been very innovative with quickly introducing remote ways of staying in touch. However, this has not worked well for everyone and is not ideal."

There are suggestions the government will look at local areas in regards to transmission rates. Mr Hancock said: "We’ve got to make sure it works for each local area but I hope we can make that change very soon."

Mr Padgham said: “Any resumption of visiting will have to be limited at first and carefully-managed, with full personal protective equipment (PPE) in use, social distancing and hand washing a priority and numbers kept under control.

“We will probably need to do it on an appointment basis at first as homes will not be able to cope with a sudden rush and it will ultimately be up to individual homes and individual local authority areas to decide whether they feel it is safe to allow relatives in."

Families have been able to visit loved ones in Northern Ireland since Monday

In Northern Ireland, care homes were open to family visits on Monday 6 July. Northern Ireland’s Health minister Robin Swann announced the news on 30 June confirming visitors will now be made on a day to day basis by the manager.

The home must be COVID-19 free with social distancing in place and all visitors must always wear a mask.

The reaction from care home managers in Northern Ireland has been one of “immense relief and the families are very thankful to us,” said the manager of Meadow View in Enniskillen.

“Lockdown has been difficult for everyone in different ways. Some have been affected by a feeling of missing loved ones, especially those living with memory loss, who could not understand why their families could only see them through a window.”

Orchard Lodge Care Home said: “This has been excitement for residents. It has been a long time since they have seen their relatives in person.

"The relatives are very excited and the staff are looking forward to seeing the relatives again too, however, they are very aware and cautious of an increased risk this may present to our residents.”

Orchard Lodge will use an appointment based system with 15 minute intervals for family members to sanitise before a half an hour visit with their family member. Communal areas and facilities including toilets are out of bounds.

“We are using a visitors screening tool prior to entry including questions and temperature monitoring. There is a visual aid as to guidance for visitors including hand sanitising, social distancing and wearing a face covering.”

In the COVID-19: Regional principles for visiting in care settings in Northern Ireland, some of the rules are:

• Only one visitor is permitted to visit at a time.

• Visits will be for a maximum duration of one hour. The time of this should be agreed with the nominated visitor and the nurse/person in charge.

• Children under the age of 16 will not be permitted to visit. In the event of exceptional circumstances, this can be discussed with the nurse/person in charge.

The care homes carehome.co.uk interviewed are confident family visits will follow strict guidelines and all visits are to be monitored by a member of staff.

Oak Tree Manor in Dunmurry said: “All families have been briefed about the set visiting guidelines. An area within our open front reception area has been allocated and our staff will be monitoring. Staff will have to be very diligent and ensure all guidelines are followed by everyone.”

To read the Northern Ireland COVID-19 visiting guidelines click here

To read our tips on visiting care home residents as lockdown eases click here

click here for more details or to contact Runwood Homes Ltd