Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Care Homes: Family Visits

Tuesday 23 February 2021 · 3 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 3 Not answered 0

Key points

  • From 8 March, care homes will enable more face-to-face family visits carefully.
  • The government guidance will set out how residents can have a named person for repeat visits.
  • Care homes are expected to balance resident access to visitors with safety measures.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Catherine West Lab Hornsey and Friern Barnet
Care & Healthcare Workers
Context

The question arises from the need to balance protecting people during the pandemic with social contact, particularly in care homes.

Question

What steps he is taking to help enable face-to-face family visits to care homes. From 8 March, we will be enabling care homes to open up carefully to more visiting. Our guidance will set out how residents can have a named person for repeat visits, with testing and PPE so that those visits can be indoors.

Answer from Helen Whately

Throughout the pandemic, we have had to strike a balance between protecting people from this cruel virus and social contact. Nowhere has this been harder than in care homes. That is why I am so pleased that, from 8 March, we will be enabling care homes to open up carefully to more visiting. Our guidance will set out how residents can have a named person for repeat visits, with testing and PPE so that those visits can be indoors.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Specific steps or mechanisms to enable face-to-face family visits were not detailed beyond the general statement of upcoming changes.

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Q2 Emma Hardy Lab Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice
NHS Social Care
Context

The question arises from the new guidance on care home visits, focusing specifically on the phrase 'With the agreement of the care home.'

Question

I welcome the new guidance on care home visits, but I am concerned about this phrase: 'With the agreement of the care home.' Does the Minister share my concern that that may allow some care homes to disagree with the guidance, therefore decide that the risk is too high and prevent the physical contact that residents in care homes are so desperate to have with their loved ones?

Answer from Helen Whately

The hon. Member makes an important point. We have been clear that we want to see care homes enabling visiting. We recognise that care homes are having to strike a balance between giving residents access to visitors and making sure that those residents are safe. Our guidance will provide further support to care homes on how they can make sure that those visits happen.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The Minister did not confirm whether she shares the concern or address it specifically, only acknowledged its importance without concrete actions.

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Q3 Catherine West Lab Hornsey and Friern Barnet
NHS Social Care
Context

The question arises from the context of visiting restrictions during the pandemic, focusing on staffing needs in care homes.

Question

Care homes for older folk and disabled people are a basic human right. Given that care home residents—either in the care homes themselves or perhaps in hospital—account for a third of all deaths from covid, should the Government not be trying just a bit harder to provide the staffing that is often required for those extra visits? When will the Government lay out their plan to address social care, which is so clearly lacking and has been promised for about 10 years now?

Answer from Helen Whately

The hon. Member is right to say that visiting at the moment involves extra staffing—for instance, staff to supervise visits and to support the testing that we will be bringing in with the new visiting guidance. We have already provided funding to the social care sector that can be used to support the cost of visiting, and there is additional funding for extra workforce costs.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The response did not specify a timeline or detailed plan for addressing staffing needs beyond acknowledging existing measures and funding.

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