Care home visit rules easing 'too little, too late'

A woman whose father is in a care home has described the easing of visiting restrictions as "too little, too late".

Earlier the Department of Health announced that there will no longer be a restriction on the number of people who may visit but visits remain limited to two households per day.

Overnight stays will also be facilitated for care home residents.

Tina Girvan, whose father Joe is in a care home in county Armagh, said the change doesn't go far enough.

"It doesn't change anything for outbreaks," she said.

"Care homes are going in and out of outbreaks, with some in rolling outbreaks, which means they've been in a rolling outbreak for weeks.

"Some care homes then, like my father's care home, was in an outbreak, came out for a day, and we are back into outbreak again.

"So it changes nothing in that respect."

However, Mark King, who owns a care home in county Down said he welcomed the further easing of visiting restrictions.

He said maintaining the restriction on visiting during a Covid outbreak is a sensible measure.

"Covid is still here, we are still dealing with vulnerable people, who are, by their very nature, vulnerable," he said.

"So in this particular home we have three units and two of them are actually closed to visitors at this point in time simply because we have Covid either in residents or staff.

"I think families, after two years, understand the difficulties and appreciate it and are working with it."

Meanwhile, the Commissioner for Older People in NI, Eddie Lynch said Thursday's changes marked a "big step forward towards normality".

He said that not only will the quantity of visits be increased, their quality will be enhanced.

"It now allows brief hugging, it allows people to arrange overnight stays, makes it easier for people to be taken out on day trips from care homes," he said.

"So I think it's going to improve the quality of living for many residents right across Northern Ireland."

It has also been confirmed that the care partners scheme will be extended to hospitals and hospices.

The care partner initiative, which was introduced in late 2020, allows a designated relative or carer to provide additional support to a resident.

We are seeing an opening up of care facilities.

This is good news - not only for residents and those inside hospitals and hospices - but particularly for their families.

Remember those pictures of people looking inside windows of care homes? For many that is only a year ago.

We all know someone who has had to make that difficult decision where only certain members of the family were allowed to go in.

This sector was among the hardest hit by the pandemic with some very difficult choices for families.