All care home residents in England should be allowed to receive visits from their family and friends in a COVID-secure way – with social distancing and PPE - following new guidance to be used while national restrictions are in place from Thursday 5 November.
The guidance will enable care home providers, families and local professionals to work together to find the right balance between the benefits of visiting on wellbeing and quality of life, and the risk of transmission of COVID-19 to social care staff and vulnerable residents.
It will set out clear principles for how visits are conducted – with arrangements to be adapted from home to home, based on the needs of their residents and taking into consideration factors such as layout and facilities - and reiterates the importance of ensuring social distancing and proper PPE use is observed.
Options for safe care home visits in line with the guidance could include:
•Visits using COVID-secure visiting areas/pods with floor to ceiling screens and windows where the visitor and resident enter through different entrances, are separated by screens and visitors do not need to enter or pass through the care home.
•Visits at windows, where the visitor doesn’t need to come inside the care home or where the visitor remains in their car, and the resident is socially distanced.
•Outdoor visits with one other person - visitors can meet outside with a loved one, in areas which can be accessed without anyone going through a shared building.
•Further support for virtual visits, encouraging the use of video calls.
Plans are currently being developed to allow specific family and friends to visit care homes supported by testing. A sector-led group is overseeing the development of these plans with trials set to begin later this month.
Minister for Care Helen Whately said: “I know how incredibly hard visiting restrictions have been for families, friends and residents in care homes. The accounts I have heard personally are truly heart-breaking, especially where care homes have been unable to reopen for visiting during the summer.
“I am determined to bring loved ones back together, even during this second wave of the pandemic; that’s why I am advising care homes to enable COVID-secure visits across the country.
“We must get the balance right between reuniting families and ensuring care staff and residents are safe from COVID-19.”
Care homes should support the NHS Test and Trace system by keeping a temporary record, including address and phone number, of current and previous residents, staff and visitors as well as keeping track of visitor numbers and staff. It is recommended homes have an arrangement to enable bookings or appointments for visitors and ad hoc visits should not be permitted.
Protecting staff and residents has been a priority throughout the pandemic, with 120,000 tests being sent out every day solely for the care sector. The government has provided access to £3.7 billion for local authorities through un-ringfenced grants so they can address the expenditure pressures they are facing in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including social care, as well as £1.1 billion provided to support infection control in care homes.
In addition, 11,000 iPad tablets, worth £7.5 million, will soon be distributed to thousands of care homes across England to help residents keep in touch with loved ones.
