Phillip Schofield calls care minister 'cold and heartless' for 'impractical' care home visit restrictions

This Morning presenter, Phillip Schofield, has called the care minister "cold and heartless", after she failed to relax 'impractical' care home visit restrictions, which led to the arrest of retired nurse Ylenia Angeli, for trying to take her mother with dementia out of a care home.

A video which has gone viral on social media shows Ms Angeli being arrested by police after taking her 97-year-old mother out of a care home so she could care for her at home.

The video, which shows her being handcuffed inside a patrol car, has led to renewed pressure on the government to allow family members to be seen as key workers so they can visit residents, many of whom are bedbound, inside the care home.

Care minister Helen Whately, appeared on ITV's This Morning to discuss the newly published guidelines for care homes, which do encourage all homes to allow residents to have visitors but in visitor pods or window visits. Care homes are advised to have transparent screens in place between the visitor and the resident.

Ms Whately admitted she “found it really hard listening” to Ylenia Angeli being interviewed about her arrest and that some of the stories from families and residents being unable to see each other had been “heartbreaking”.

Philip Schofield responded by shouting "So fix it!" and told her she looked “cold and heartless”.

Ms Whately said: “Today we're publishing new guidelines on visiting for care homes, and the reason we're doing that is because we're going into a national lockdown, and we're asking people again to stay at home, I don't want to see care homes go back into lockdown like they did before."

When Ms Whately was told the guidelines did not give care homes any time to put anything in place, she responeded: “The care home guidelines have been worked on with care homes over days and weeks.

"I really want to see care homes find ways to enable visiting. That’s what this guide is for to try and encourage all care homes to have taken these steps."

But after the care minister failed to answer a question on whether people will be allowed to hug their relatives, Mr Schofield argued: "Where's the compassion for a 97-year-old lady who is in her final years.

"The family want to hug her, they want to be with her. They want her, she needs them, and you look cold and heartless."

The minister replied: "I've genuinely been sat in tears by the stories and talking to people about who have not been able to see those that they love.

"I genuinely find it heartbreaking and have genuinely spent a huge amount of time working with care providers to work out how we can make things better but we are in a context where there are places where one in 40 people are estimated to have COVID."

Dementia UK, Age UK and John's Campaign are just a few of the charities who have criticised the government about their new guidance for care home visits saying it “falls short for what we are calling for”.

They claim the new guidelines are too restrictive and say the visits should be more “meaningful” and involve “touch” and “holding hands.”

’In the later stages of dementia, they need to hold hands’

Dementia UK is one of the charities calling on the government to revise the guidelines and provide tests for staff, residents and families as a priority.

Paul Edwards, director of clinical services at Dementia UK said: “The new guidance for allowing visitors to friends and family in care homes falls very far short of what we, and families, have been calling for. Suggesting people communicate through phones and full-length screens is not only impractical for many care homes but fails to consider the particular needs and challenges faced by people with dementia.

“Families visiting care homes do more than just visit; they provide care and respite for their relatives. They need to be able to go inside and touch their relatives, if possible, to provide reassurance, mental stimulation and affection.”

Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said the guidelines were "unlikely to be useable by many older people with dementia, or indeed sensory loss.

"Overall, we think this new guidance is too restrictive. In practice, we fear it will result in many care homes halting meaningful visiting altogether because they will be unable to comply with the requirements laid down."

Julia Jones, co-founder of dementia charity John's Campaign, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme visits to care homes to see their relatives or loved ones should be more than meeting through a window.

Ms Jones said: "When people are in the later stages of dementia when people love each other when people are approaching the end of their lives, they need to hold hands."

To read our guidance on safe care home visits during lockdown go to: click here