News

CCFTV is disappointed that Lateral Flow Tests will not be freely available for families who visit loved ones in Care Homes. Ref https://www.carehomeprofessional.com/families-facing-125-monthly-care-home-covid-test-bill/

Older people and Care Homes, in particular, have suffered greatly as a result of the pandemic. Long periods of lockdown, with no visiting at all and then periods of restricted visiting only, followed a Government policy failure to protect care home residents from hospital transmitted Covid infections. The consequences of those decisions were much higher mortality rates in the care home population, a higher level of untoward accidents/incidents, long periods of resident isolation and real emotional trauma for their absent families.

Now, whilst we welcome society’s emergence from Covid restrictions, we nevertheless know that older vulnerable people require greater protection from infection, regardless of their vaccination status. To that end, we would urge Government and local authorities to consider making Lateral Flow Tests freely available for family testing prior to visiting an elderly loved one in a care home. To require families to pay for those tests is akin to a stealth tax on those who have already materially suffered through this pandemic. Any families who cannot afford to pay for such tests are automatically excluded from visiting many care homes, as a significant number of those facilities continue to have prevention of infection safeguards in place.