News

Ref https://www.carehomeprofessional.com/care-minister-says-care-home-visiting-testing-pilot-to-begin-on-monday/

Care Campaign for the Vulnerable welcomes the news a pilot scheme will finally be going ahead next week to enable family members to visit loved ones in care homes. Upon hearing this long-awaited action from Helen Whately MP families are contacting us saying this is very welcomed but fear has come '' too late for some’‘. The concerns are the lack of transparency to the areas that will be trialled and how those areas will be determined.

Christmas round the corner, families are expressing concerns they will not be reunited in time for the festive period and fear elderly loved ones will remain isolated at a time when families should be together. Either way, it’s been too long to await reuniting elderly relatives with loved ones and some supporters are contacting us to say they are upset this forced separation and cruel isolation is already causing long term, irretrievable emotional and physical decline to many vulnerable elderly living in care homes.

Christine Taylor campaigns for loved ones to be reunited with family members in care homes

Christine Taylor has not seen her mother for over eight months and supports our Let Loved Ones In a campaign with the Daily Express newspaper. She told CCFTV ''The trial is, of course, welcomed, however, the long term effects on my mother living with Alzheimer’s and many other elderly residents could come too late”. Christine Taylor who campaigns for families to be allowed safe visitation is frustrated with the delay this Government has taken after seeing the emotional decline to elderly loved ones in care homes.

''The pilot scheme has come way too late and this could have started several weeks ago. Also living in Greater Manchester once again we are bottom of the list. By the time it gets to us, it will be Christmas - nine long months and given the fact that the care homes in the South have been allowing window and garden visits, here we have been denied this important contact. We are still not allowed window visits.''

Secondly, why only one family member be tested? Surely if the test is negative irrelevant of who they are they should be allowed in. It will place pressure on the families to decide who it should be allowed in and I for one have a large family who all wants to visit and I am sure my mother wants to see her daughters and grown-up grandchildren. Window visits should be made a priority first and foremost. For me, it's too little, too late.''

Care Campaign for the Vulnerable spoke out about vulnerable elderly, especially those living with dementia, suffering from isolation and denied the right to family life in some care homes.

Care Campaign for the Vulnerable continues to support families reporting some care providers are not facilitating safe visits including window visits and spoken on the Government's lack of concise and robust direction for safe visitation in care homes.