The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has updated guidance on visiting care homes from 12 April 2021.
Visiting is a central part of care home life. It is crucially important for maintaining the health, wellbeing and quality of life of residents. Visiting is also vital for family and friends to maintain contact and life-long relationships with their loved ones and contribute to their support and care.
The government is asking all care homes to allow every resident to name up to 2 people who can come for regular indoor visits. As far as possible these 2 should remain the same people.
The named visitors will need to follow some important steps to reduce the risk of infection to the person they are visiting and to others in the care home.
The guidance is summarised as follows:
- Take a rapid lateral flow test
- Wear PPE
The care home manager and staff have the job of keeping everyone safe and helping everyone have a good experience of visiting. They need your support. Please help them out.
When you visit you are not just coming into your loved one’s home, you are also in the home of many other residents. So please follow any advice and instructions that the care home staff give you to keep everyone safe.
You can read more about the guidelines at gov.uk
