Care homes should allow safe visits during lockdown, says Sheffield Council

Sheffield’s care homes are being encouraged to allow safe visiting during the third national lockdown, and have been told that blanket bans on visiting are “unacceptable.”
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It follows concerns raised by a relative of a care home resident about cancelled visits.

The council issued a statement today reaffirming guidance set out on its website.

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It states: “We know how important visits are for supporting health and wellbeing of people living in care homes and their relationships with friends and family.

Stock picture of an elderly man used for illustrative purposes only. Picture: Brian EyreStock picture of an elderly man used for illustrative purposes only. Picture: Brian Eyre
Stock picture of an elderly man used for illustrative purposes only. Picture: Brian Eyre

“We’re encouraging and supporting care homes in Sheffield to provide safe visiting opportunities.”

It added providers can decide ‘if, when and how’ people can visit but they must involve visitors in all decisions about arrangements.

The council said blanket bans on visiting are unacceptable, all steps must be taken to enable safe, regular visiting opportunities and providers must always allow visits in exceptional circumstances such as end of life, extreme distress or depression.

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The local authority also said all registered care homes should be able to test two visitors per resident twice a week.

This follows months of campaigning by friends and relatives of residents, MPs, expert organisations such as the Alzheimer’s Society and others to enable meaningful visiting.

In some cases people were unable to visits loved ones for many months and in others, visiting methods were described as ‘inhumane’ and ‘barbaric’.

The Alzheimer’s Society reported an unexpected increase of 5,000 more dementia deaths in care homes during the first lockdown, not related to coronavirus, it said could be due to prolonged social isolation and disruption to the care system.

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A survey by the society also showed 80 percent of people saw their loved one’s condition worsen before their eyes under restrictive measures.

Responding to this, the government announced regular testing of visitors would be rolled out across all care homes by Christmas to enable better contact however, some say they are still waiting to be offered tests.

Government guidance for the current lockdown states: “Visits to care homes can take place with arrangements such as substantial screens, visiting pods or behind windows.”

The council said to contact [email protected] if there are any disagreements about visiting arrangements.

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People can also contact Healthwatch Sheffield at [email protected] or on 0114 253 6688 weekdays between 9am to 4.30pm.

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