Many care home residents will not be reunited with loved ones by Christmas despite pledges by the government to the contrary, according to Age UK.
The charity said correspondence suggests many families are yet to be reunited with family and friends with "no hope immediately in sight”.
Age UK issued the warning as it published a new report, Behind the headlines: why in-person care home visiting must get going again, which found 70 per cent of 2,732 surveyed people with which it is in contact said they had not been able to visit or see their loved ones since the start of the pandemic.
The survey also found 34 per cent had been offered no alternative to in person visiting, such as a video-call.
Age UK said a key theme from the findings is many families felt their loved ones would not understand why they were not visiting them, and would therefore "feel abandoned and unloved". This was a particular fear when the older person in question was suffering with dementia, it added.
The charity called on the social care sector – including central and local government, care home managers and staff, and local Directors of Public Health – to ensure in-person care home visiting “gets going again now and that this really does become and remains the default position for the rest of the pandemic”.
“Our new report demonstrates a depth of suffering among all those care home residents and families kept apart by the virus that’s tough to read about, let alone experience,” said Age UK charity director Caroline Abrahams (pictured).
“Most of the families who responded to our survey had been unable to see or speak to their loved one for the best part of a year. Now visiting is supposed to be happening again it’s crucial that the government's pledge is delivered; every day counts and we know that for some it’s already too late,” she added.
