Government taken to High Court for 14-day isolation policy for care home residents

The government is being taken to the High Court over its guidance advising care home residents isolate for 14 days on first admission to a care home and when they return from an overnight visit outside the home.

The Department for Health and Social Care has said the 14 day-isolation policy is not mandatory.

However, lawyers acting for campaigners John’s Campaign say the requirement is “unlawful” and "the guidance is understood to be a requirement by most care home providers because of the way it is worded and because a failure to follow it may negatively effect their insurance, regulatory standing, and reputation".

John’s Campaign has applied for permission for judicial review of Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) guidance which includes the isolation requirement.

The application for permission for judicial review was filed at the High Court on Wednesday, 9 June.

Lawyers: Guidance makes it likely care homes will 'falsely imprison'

Lawyers Leigh Day say the guidance “makes it likely that care providers will falsely imprison care home residents, contrary to Article 5 ECHR, either by not permitting them to make visits out of the care home at all or by imposing on them a 14-day isolation requirement on return without any legal basis”.

They also argue that the two-week requirement makes it likely that the care provider will not do the necessary individualised risk assessment for admission or overnight visits, because the guidance appears to care providers to be mandatory.

Leigh Day partner Tessa Gregory said the 14 day isolation requirement is “without a legal basis” and is regardless of whether that person has been double vaccinated and regardless of the impact that isolation will have on the individual’s physical and mental health.

“As the case studies our client has collected show, this is having a profound impact on the wellbeing of residents and in some cases is resulting in serious and irretrievable decline.

"In accordance with the law, individuals and individual risk assessments should be at the heart of decision making by care homes, not blanket requirements as dictated by the Government.”

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has repeatedly stated that the regulator expects care homes to fully comply with government guidance.

Families refusing respite to avoid isolation

“Irreversible physical decline”, confusion and distress are being felt by care home residents as a result of the 14 day guidance say John’s Campaign with some care home residents now refusing any home visits. Some families are refusing respite care, or keeping their loved one at home rather than in the care home for longer than would normally be the case, to protect them from the negative effects of the isolation requirement.

John’s Campaign have published a booklet of case studies this week ‘The Holding Pen’, which details the impact on families of the 14-day requirement for care homes.

The campaigners are crowdfunding their legal case with sales of the booklet helping to fund the legal action.

The grounds for the application have been submitted with case studies from the booklet, with one man whose disability requires regular hospital treatment every few weeks, put in a state of almost constant isolation.

'Most people wouldn’t shut an animal up for two weeks'

Anne, whose husband’s Alzheimer’s disease took an aggressive turn on New Year’s Day and had to be admitted to a care home, said: “People are visiting pubs and raves, singing at football matches and generally doing far more dangerous things than my frail and lonely husband.”

John’s Campaign is led by Julia Jones and Nicci Gerrard, who through their campaigning have already removed the age requirement on visits out, and the removal of the requirement to be isolated following trips out of care homes that are not overnight.

Julia Jones said: “Most people wouldn’t shut an animal up for two weeks with no fresh air, exercise or companionship yet this is happening routinely to new arrivals in our care homes, to people discharged from hospital needing rehabilitation and to young people (often with the understanding of toddlers) who need to spend time with their families.”

Care home manager: 'We’re not the gatekeepers to people’s family’

Despite government guidance, care homes have told carehome.co.uk they do not require their residents to isolate for 14 days. This includes Dawn Bunter, care home manager at Iceni House.

Speaking as a guest on ‘Let’s Talk About Care’ podcast, Dawn Bunter says “It’s all over the guidance now that care home managers should feel empowered to make their own decision.

“We’re not prisons. We can’t keep people locked up. We’re not the gatekeepers to people’s family.

“We need to ensure that this meaningful contact continues. We had residents that had lost weight. We’ve also got to think about the safety of people’s emotional well being as well.”