Campaigners have threatened new legal action against the UK government if it fails to remove the 14-day self-isolation requirement from the latest update to care home guidance.
John’s Campaign, represented by Leigh Day solicitors, has sent a pre-action protocol letter to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) calling for the requirement to be lifted completely.
The latest update to the guidance to care providers, ‘Visits out of care homes’, eases the 14-day isolation requirement so that residents can have medical appointments, be in contact with others outdoors and go to a day centre or a place of worship.
However, the easing of the restriction does not allow an overnight visit home and still imposes the 14-day rule on new residents and people returning from a stay in hospital.
John’s Campaign says in its letter to DHSC that it will apply for judicial review of the 14-day isolation rule if it is not lifted and if future guidance does not make clear to providers that individualised risk assessments should inform all decisions on visits out and whether self-isolation is needed.
It says the rule is unlawful because it creates an “unacceptable risk of illegality because it makes it likely that care providers will falsely imprison care home residents” and deprives “residents of their liberty” - contrary to the European Convention on Human Rights and UK Equality Act - by mandating an undifferentiated approach without requiring individualised risk assessments.
John’s Campaign also argues that the fact that there is no legal basis for the requirement to self-isolate “only serves to strengthen the arguments that the guidance is unlawful”.
“John’s Campaign have been inundated with heart breaking stories from families for whom this blanket requirement to self-isolate for 14 days on admission to a care home and after overnight stays is causing huge damage and distress,” said Leigh Day partner Tessa Gregory.
“Our clients are calling on the government to remove the blanket requirement and make plain that any admissions into care homes or visits out, including overnight stays, should be risk assessed on a case by case basis taking into account vaccinations and testing and ensuring that the wellbeing of residents is at the heart of decision making,” she added.
