All care home residents in England should be allowed to receive visits from their family and friends in a Covid-secure way following new guidance to be used during national lockdown, the government has said.
In a statement, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said the guidance would set out principles for how visits are conducted, with arrangements to be adapted from home to home, based on the needs of residents and taking into consideration layout and facilities.
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 and are separated by screens.
Also acceptable could be visits at windows where the visitor does not enter the care home or where the visitor remains in their car and the resident is socially distanced.
The statement also suggests visitors could meet outside with a loved one in areas that can be accessed without anyone going through a shared building. The government also lent support to virtual visits through the use of video calls.
DHSC said plans are 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, it added.
A new national programme for weekly testing of professionals who regularly visit care homes, including community nurses and physiotherapists, will also be rolled out in the coming weeks following a successful pilot in Cambridgeshire, Peterborough and Northamptonshire.
“Care homes should feel empowered by this new guidance to look at safe options to allow visits to care homes that suit their residents and facilities. We’ve seen some really innovative solutions used to help families see each other safely, face-to-face, which has been life-changing for some,” said Health Secretary Matt Hancock.
The government is also working with providers to help them communicate to families and help them plan visits in a way that minimises the wider risks – for example, avoiding travelling to and from the home using public transport, or maintaining social distance from other families when they arrive at the home for their visit.
Visits outside of these principles should still be allowed in exceptional circumstances such as end of life.
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.
Care England called for greater clarity around DHSC’s revised position on care home visiting.
“There is a continued importance of balancing safety with wellbeing and Care England awaits further details from the DHSC on its latest guidance for care homes for older people and those for younger adults,” said chief executive Martin Green.
“Care providers cannot prepare overnight, they need time, assurance and confidence in the guidance. Moreover any new protocol needs to include indemnity for care providers,” he added.
Care England said it is “desperate” for reassurance that the DHSC will be working intensively over the next few weeks to “ensure that a robust visiting policy is in place once lockdown has been lifted.”
“We are really upset that a proper policy has not been published in time when a second lockdown was always on the cards,” added Green.
