Richard has welcomed the confirmation that additional coronavirus testing and PPE are to be made available to the families of care home residents to enable them to be reunited with loved ones before Christmas.
In October, Richard wrote to the Health Secretary, Matt Hancock to press the case on behalf of constituents who were concerned about the difficulties in arranging visits to family members in care homes. Constituents who had contacted Richard were concerned about the practical limitations on visits to family members. RIchard called on Matt Hancock to introduce testing for relatives and increase the number of visitors beyond the single constant visitor which had been permitted until now.
Care home residents in all tiers will be able to see their families again this Christmas period as over a million tests are to be sent out providers over the next month, with visits to begin in the first homes today.
A significant increase in testing capacity, paired with new testing technology, will allow friends and family to visit relatives in care homes if they receive a negative result prior to the visit.
The move will enable care homes to safely maintain a balance between infection control and the vital benefits of visiting to the health and wellbeing of residents.
More than a million lateral flow tests have already been sent out to the 385 biggest care homes as the first tranche of a phased approach to make visits safer. The number of tests kits being supplied has been modelled to allow up to 2 visitors per resident, visiting twice a week.
An extra 46 million items of free PPE will be sent to CQC-registered care home providers through the government portal in addition to PPE already available. Over 220 million items of PPE have been provided to adult care homes since April.
Commenting on the announcement, Richard said: "I was particularly pleased to learn about these plans. On behalf of constituents who contacted me about this, I raised their concerns with Matt Hancock and called on the Department to introduce measures to support families to be together with loved ones in care homes.
This has been a very difficult year for so many people and the separation has been so painful for so many - this is a positive step forward."
