[ad_1]
Nursing home residents in England will be able to receive visits during the national lockdown after a last minute U-turn by Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who has given in to pressure from residents, family members and care operators and revoked a ban in high infection areas.
As England enters a month of new restrictions starting at midnight, nursing homes must allow residents to receive visits “in a Covid safe manner” using social distancing and protective gear, a new guide will say.
The move came as Hancock admitted that it has been “heartbreaking” for families not to see their loved ones. Less than three weeks ago, the government had said that visits should stop in areas with level 2 and level 3 lockdown restrictions, as well as in exceptional circumstances such as end of life.
Just eight hours before the shutdown began, the Department of Health and Social Care said nursing homes will receive a set of “clear principles on how visitation is conducted, with arrangements to be tailored from one home to another, depending on residents “. needs and accounting of the different designs and installations of the residences ”.
These could include Covid-secured visiting areas or capsules with screens and floor-to-ceiling windows that do not require visitors to enter the main body of the residence, the DHSC said.
This sparked a furious response from the Alzheimer’s Society, which dismissed the idea of ”prison-style screens … with people talking on phones” as “ridiculous.”
“Someone with advanced dementia can often be bedridden and have difficulty speaking,” said Kate Lee, executive director of the charity. “They will not understand and will be distressed by what is happening around them.”
He said the government was making a “naive assumption” that nursing homes have the resources, the space or the time to build displays. She questioned what science the policy was based on, claiming that “there is no evidence that visits cause transmission.”
Other suggestions in the yet-to-be-published guidelines include window visits or having the visitor stay in their car and the resident be taken to see them.
Nursing homes, family groups and charities, including Age UK and the Alzheimer’s Society, had warned that the blanket ban was causing emotional distress and premature deaths, as residents went for months without seeing or having their loved ones. dear ones, effectively “imprisoned”.
Pressure on ministers to act increased on Tuesday, when The Guardian reported that a higher court judge had ruled that, despite government guidance, it was legal for families to visit loved ones in nursing homes. .
Age UK welcomed the recognition of the need to balance infection control with the mental health of nursing home residents, but cautioned that the new guidelines may be counterproductive. The charity said that many nursing homes in low-infection areas that had been managing some visits are now able to stop them if they can’t meet the new national requirements.
“We are also well aware that many older people with dementia or sensory loss are unlikely to be able to use sanctioned visitation methods,” said Caroline Abrahams, Director of Age UK.
DHSC said it will also launch a home visitor test pilot later this month, after Care Minister Helen Whately said planning for such a system was underway on Oct. 13.
Matt Hancock said: “Nursing homes should feel empowered by this new guide to seek safe options to allow nursing home visits that are tailored to their residents and facilities. It is vital that compassionate, high-quality care and infection control remain at the center of every nursing home to protect the lives of staff and residents, but we must allow families to come together as safely as possible. ” .
