- Government guidance must be underpinned by law to protect
care home residents’ right to family life
- ‘Completely unacceptable’ for care homes to deny residents
vital family links by claiming visits are unsafe without doing
individualised assessments
- ‘Astonishing’ lack of awareness by Care Quality Commission as
to whether care homes are complying with guidance allowing visits
- New Government guidance on low-risk visits: an opportunity to
restore residents’ human rights
The Joint Committee on Human Rights has prepared a draft
statutory instrument to lay before Parliament to secure legal
protection for care home residents deprived of family visits, and
therefore, their human rights.
In today’s report, Care homes: Visiting restrictions during
the covid-19 pandemic, the Committee calls on the Government
to make the existing requirements for individualised assessment
for visits mandatory by laying its draft Regulations, as soon as
possible.
Government guidance now makes clear that care home providers
should not impose blanket bans on visiting but should instead
conduct individualised risk assessments for each resident. This
is a welcome response to the Committee’s work in February 2021.
However, without statutory force, there is no legal recourse for
residents to require their providers to implement the guidance.
It is completely unacceptable for care home providers to argue
that it is not yet safe to follow it and deny residents important
family links as part of their right to family life. The
Government has a duty to protect the lives of residents in care
homes, but it also has an obligation to uphold their right to
family life and ensure it is facilitated in practice.
The pandemic has revealed the lifeline of love and support which
runs from families to their loved ones in residential care. The
Committee was struck by evidence from the co-founder of Rights
for Residents, Jenny Morrison who said: “We relatives all
feel that we have had to watch for over a year now as our loved
ones have deteriorated. It has been
like grieving for people who were still alive.” Others
described providers who imposed time restrictions on visiting or
forced families to endure 'prison-like' visits, permitted only to
speak to their relatives through telephones behind plastic
screens.
While much of the problem has been with the guidance provided by
Government, there have also been concerns at the decisions taken
by individual care homes and care providers. In light of this,
the Committee was astonished that the Care Quality Commission was
unable to offer a clear picture of adherence to the guidance
within the care home sector. The CQC, the independent regulator
of all health and social care services in England, is urged to
‘get a grip’ and implement robust processes on data collection
and monitoring of visits by the end of May 2021.
Days after the Committee agreed this report, the Government
announced plans to amend the excessive guidance which required
residents to self-isolate for 14 days if they chose to leave
their care homes for even the shortest period and in line with
social distancing rules. Once again, the rules were introduced at
very short notice, giving families and care home providers very
little time to prepare. Further reviews of the rules may be
announced by Government by May 17. Questions of deprivation of
liberty under Article 5 ECHR as well as unjustified interference
with the right to family life (Article 8 ECHR) remain a
consideration.
The Chair of the Joint Committee on Human Rights,
MP, said:
“Care staff across the country continue to do an incredible job
in difficult circumstances and families of residents are in the
forefront of recognising this.
“But for far too many families and their loved ones in
residential care homes, the pandemic has been utterly
heart-breaking because of the breach of the right to family life.
It has been a powerful reminder of why the right to family life
is so important.
“The Government has listened to recommendations from this
Committee and other that restrictions on visiting rights must be
only be implemented on the basis of an individualised risk
assessment which takes into account the risks to the resident’s
physical and mental wellbeing of not having visits. By not
underpinning this guidance in law, care homes have not felt bound
by it and important rights have therefore not been respected.
“The Care Quality Commission assurances that visits are being
allowed properly now in all homes is wholly unconvincing. Because
care homes see guidance about allowing visits as advisory rather
than binding, the Government must now bring forward regulations
to give their guidance on visits legal force.
“As we moved to publish this report, the Government announced
plans to relax the 14 day rule in England for care residents’
visits out for some instances of ‘low-risk’ trips. It has taken a
great deal of effort by families, including a promise of legal
action, to make this happen. As Professor Van Tam said last week,
it is incredibly safe for two fully vaccinated people to meet
freely. The Government’s guidance on visiting in and out of care
homes must now reflect this. As our report demonstrates, the
pandemic has had a significant toll on residents of care homes
and their families who crave the return of meaningful
relationships with their loved ones. Restoring their human rights
must be a matter of priority.”
