Babies and toddlers can join two visitors inside care homes in England from 12 April

Care home residents in England will be allowed two regular visitors indoors from 12 April and will also get the chance to see babies and toddlers – in a bid to reunite grandparents with their grandchildren.

Babies and young children will be able to accompany their parents, to enable many grandparents and great-grandparents to see new members of their family for the first time.

Visitors can hold hands with residents and will be asked to provide a negative test result before entry to the care homes and wear PPE during the visit to keep themselves, staff and residents safe.

Regular visits are being extended from one to two people, as coronavirus lockdown restrictions in the country are eased. The government also announced that in coming weeks, some visitors will be able to conduct tests at home rather than at care homes to help manage the flow of visitors and allow more visits to take place.

Boris Johnson: Reuniting family and friends ‘a priority’

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “Reuniting family and friends has been a priority each time restrictions have eased, and the next step will be no different.

“I’m particularly pleased to allow residents to have more visitors, including grandchildren, given the isolation and concern felt by so many this past year.

“Thanks to the tireless work of care home staff, and the success of the vaccine rollout, we’re able to increase the number of visits in a safe and controlled way.”

Other opportunities for relatives and contacts to have outdoor, pod and screen visits will continue in line with guidance in place during lockdown.

Minister for Care, Helen Whately said: “Increasing care home visiting is a top priority as we ease Covid restrictions. I know just how much these visits mean to residents and their loved ones.

“I’m pleased we were able to introduce more meaningful visits to care homes in March. Seeing friends and family reunited has been incredibly moving. Thank you to all of our amazing care workers for helping to make this possible.

“We want to go further, so we’re allowing more visitors at this next stage of the roadmap - and our aim is to make visiting to care homes as normal as possible by the summer. We know how cruel this virus can be in care homes so we must continue to follow the science and data, but things are looking up.”

Almost 94 per cent of eligible residents at older people’s care homes have received their first dose of vaccine and almost 78 per cent of care home staff.

Care home manager: 'Exciting step in our journey back to normality'

Vida Healthcare's Gil Chimon, manager at Vida Grange, said: “The reopening of care homes to one visitor per resident from 8 March was a fantastic morale boost which was welcomed by staff and families alike.

“We’ve seen some incredibly emotional scenes of families reconnecting with their loved ones which has been very humbling.

"The planned extension of the number of visitors to two per resident from 12 April is an exciting step in our journey back to normality, and we’re really looking forward to more family members and friends being able to reunite with their loved ones.”

All care home providers not experiencing an outbreak are being urged to follow the updated government guidance and work with families to ensure visits are possible.

Some residents, such as those with advanced dementia, autistic people and people with a learning disability need a particular, trusted person to provide some aspects of their care, resulting in the essential care giver scheme also being extended.

The government has said that extra support for care workers such as continued regular PCR testing and free PPE will be provided, to reduce the risk of infection to themselves and those for whom they provide care.

Fiona Carragher, director of research and influencing at Alzheimer’s Society said: “Visits are vital to care home residents with dementia, who have been isolated from their loved ones, without the essential care and support their families so often provide, and as a result experienced a devastating increase in their dementia symptoms over the past year.

"It’s essential that an individual’s circumstances are considered, and care homes do what they can to ensure the needs of all residents are met. If you are finding it difficult to visit a care home, please contact Alzheimer’s Society for support.”

The government also recently announced:

• Free PPE will be extended until March 2022.

• A further £341 million to support infection and prevention control measures and extended rapid testing and free PPE in care homes.

Guidance to cover the new visiting arrangements and visits out of care homes is being published this week.