Commenting on on Care England’s concerns over lack of government guidance around visiting care homes, Deborah Alsina MBE, Chief Executive of Independent Age, said:
“Care homes and their residents are consistently being overlooked when it comes to planning for COVID-19. Receiving visits from loved ones could make a huge difference to the wellbeing of people who live in care homes, and benefit their families too. As yet, the Government has not done nearly enough to ensure that guidance is available to facilitate people across the country to safely visit their loved ones. Yet guidance for the NHS on how to facilitate compassionate visits during the pandemic has already been issued. We believe the Government should build on this by delivering tailored guidance as soon as possible to enable care providers to open up to visitors as well.
“Care home staff and residents have been on the front line of this crisis and too often the challenges they have faced has been overlooked. We believe it is therefore essential that the Government takes swift action to clarify guidance and ensure care homes have the support they need to deliver their services safely.”