Care home group urges government to ditch face masks for visitors

With the government lifting social distancing restrictions and removing the mandate to wear face masks, one care home group has written a letter to the Secretary of Health and Social Care asking for the rule of mandatory mask wearing in care homes to also be lifted to provide “invaluable improvements” to their residents' “wellbeing”.

In a letter to Sajid Javid, Sunrise Senior Living UK and Gracewell Healthcare said they were concerned that wearing a mask in care home settings, after 19 July, will devalue the “positive impacts” the family visits can have. “For many residents, a visit from their family member has provided invaluable improvements to their wellbeing."

The letter states: “We firmly believe as the government looks to lift social distancing restrictions across society on 19th July (or the final date agreed), the same approach should be applied to all care homes.

“Aside from those exempt, it is an example of a policy which is now causing more damage to the welfare of residents than it offers in medical protection.”

All 45 of Sunrise Senior Living UK and Gracewell Healthcare care homes in England and one in Wales has reached above 90 per cent vaccination uptake among residents with the vast majority also now reporting in excess of 80 per cent of team members vaccinated against Covid-19 (with most receiving both doses).

The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) set a target of 80 per cent vaccination amongst care home staff in each care home for that care home to be deemed safe.

But, the group are concerned that due to the success of the vaccine rollout, the current infection control measures is “increasingly diminishing” and worry the once protective measures are “now damaging the wellbeing of care home residents.”

The letter verifies that the "vaccination rates across both residents and team members continue to increase to ever safer levels, the majority of care homes are now set to confidently return back to an enhanced degree of normality”.

In its latest publication, Public Health England (PHE) has estimated that 30,300 deaths and 8,151,000 infections have been prevented as a result of the COVID-19 vaccination programme, up to 25 June.

PHE also estimates that 46,300 hospitalisations have been prevented in people aged 65 or older in England up to 27 June (approximately 7,000 admissions in those aged 65 to 74, 18,000 in those aged 75 to 84, and 21,300 in those aged 85 and over).

The government will be listening to “scientific evidence” when making its decision on visitor rules

While the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) is also expected to issue updated guidance on care homes later this week, care minister Helen Whately recently spoke to BBC Breakfast saying care home life “can’t be completely like normal”.

She said PPE will continue to be worn by staff in English residential settings and that the government will be listening to “scientific evidence” when making its decision on visitor rules.

Ms Whately said: "There will be some further steps on opening up visiting as part of stage four, to take it back even further to normal.

"It can't be completely like normal, there will have to be some infection prevention and control measures."

Meanwhile, new research conducted by academics at the Universities of Bristol, Oxford and Copenhagen found mask-wearing reduces Covid-19 transmission by around 25 per cent if everyone wears them.

Dr Laurence Aitchison, lecturer in Machine Learning and Computational Neuroscience, Department of Computer Science, University of Bristol, said: “At a time when mask-wearing is decreasing and mask mandates are being lifted, the findings confirm that masks do indeed have a strong impact on lowering transmission of the virus and remain an important measure in our response against it.

“As people are now used to wearing them, it’s a simple thing everyone can do to continue managing risk while also resuming normal activities.”