The Government has today, 4th November, announced new guidance
for care home visitations while national restrictions are in
place from Thursday 5 November.
Kate Lee, Chief Executive Officer at Alzheimer’s Society, said:
“We’re devastated by today’s new care home visitor guidance – it
completely misses the point: this attempt to protect people will
kill them. Thousands of people with dementia have died during
lockdown – by far the highest increase in deaths for any
condition - and our support line is inundated with distraught
families reporting the damaging side effects of isolation on
their loved ones. The prison style screens the government
proposes – with people speaking through phones – are frankly
ridiculous when you consider someone with advanced dementia can
often be bed-bound and struggling to speak. They won’t understand
and will be distressed by what’s going on around them. Aside from
the naive assumption that care homes have the resource, the
space, and time to build these screens. Distraught families will
read this news and despair.
"What evidence is this based on? SAGE has declared visits low
risk, experts have stated there is no evidence of visits causing
transmission. The guidelines completely ignore the vital role of
family carers in providing the care for their loved ones with
dementia that no one else can. Eight months have gone by – more
and more people are fading away, imprisoned in care homes,
without the family and loved ones they live for. It’s staggering
that instead of a pilot we see further restrictions brought in.
We have the tools. How is it possible to test the whole of
Liverpool yet not deliver testing and equipment to allow family
carers to visit safely? Anything less is unacceptable.”
