From the 8th March, care home residents will be able to be visited indoors by a single, named individual as part of the Prime Minister’s roadmap to ease lockdown restrictions.
Richard has lobbied the Health Secretary about the plans for care home visits on a number of occasions over recent months and has welcomed today's announcement.
Every resident will have the opportunity to name one individual, who will be required to have a covid test beforehand and wear PPE during the visit.
Full details are available here:https://www.gov.uk/government/news/care-home-residents-to-be-allowed-on…
In addition, Richard has written to the Health Secretary this week asking him to look at what further steps can be taken to increase the number or frequency of care home visits. Commenting, Richard said: "I know from constituents who have contacted me and the work of the Alzheimer's Society that the last twelve months, and the continuing separation of loved ones, has been heart-breaking. Today's announcement is an important first step in re-establishing contact between family members but I have written to the Health Secretary to ask him to look at whether the Department for Health can go further with this.
It is important that there is flexibility in exceptional circumstances, for example, such as an older loved one needing support to visit and that the Department looks at what it can do, cautiously, to extend the arrangement so that it is possible for other familly members in addition to a single, named individual to see their loved ones too.
With the provision of testing and PPE and well-established public health measures that are in place, I am keen to see what more can be done to increased visits to loved ones."
