Covid-19 restrictions on care homes could mean the elderly don’t see their family for a year, a leading charity has warned.
Age UK is worried about the powers given to local health bosses to impose blanket bans on visits, a move to prevent Britain’s most vulnerable residents catching the coronavirus.
Although virus control is important, the charity said visiting restrictions undermine the danger of lack of social contact with loved ones.
It warned a number of care home residents have already died prematurely because they ‘have gone downhill fast’ as a result of being cut off from their loved ones. Experts have previously warned isolation can lead to the deterioration of conditions such as dementia.
Age UK’s warning came after Boris Johnson yesterday announced new restrictions in England in response to rising numbers of coronavirus cases.
He said if the situation does not improve, the measures could last for more than six months to March — a year after the initial lockdown when care homes first shut their doors.
Most care homes in the UK were given the green light to open again in the summer, after the outbreak was restrained.
But since infection rates have gone up again, many are not risking the virus entering and wreaking havoc like it did in March and April, and have reintroduced visiting bans to the dismay of families.
Covid-19 restrictions on care homes could mean the elderly don’t see their family for a year, Age UK has warned (stock)
Caroline Abrahams, the charity director at Age UK, told The Telegraph restrictions could leave elderly care home residents alone for a year.
She said: ‘Given where we are now with Covid-19, we worry that more and more care homes will now shut their doors to visitors, either off their own bat or because their local director of public health instructs them to do so.
‘It is crucial that we protect care home residents from the risk of infection, but that’s only one of the two enormous risks that have to be managed here.
‘The other is the risk of undermining older people’s mental and physical health by cutting them off from those they love for a long time.
‘There is ample evidence from the pandemic to date that, in these circumstances, many care home residents have gone downhill fast and a number have died prematurely without ever seeing their families and friends again.’
Under the social care winter plan, which came out last week, local directors of public health were given the authority to close care homes if the spread of coronavirus is rising in the community.
Ms Abrahams said: ‘We are firmly of the view that there is no place for blanket bans when it comes to care home visiting.
‘Getting the balance right between infection control on the one hand and protecting residents’ mental and physical health on the other is challenging, but some care homes are showing that it really can be done.’
Already, hundreds of large care home operators in England have taken extra steps to protect their residents just a couple of months after they were given the go-ahead to reopen at the end of July, when cases of Covid-19 in the UK were at record lows.
Wales allowed visits from late August, and Scotland and Northern Ireland from early July.
Some care homes had to shut to visitors in line with local lockdowns ordered by the Government.
Parts of North West England, West Midlands, West Yorkshire, Leicester, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are currently under tighter Covid-19 rules.
The aim is to avoid families bringing the coronavirus into the home and reaching the most vulnerable people of society. The elderly are far more likely to die of the coronavirus if they catch it.
Already 15,000 people have died of confirmed or suspected Covid-19 in care home in England and Wales, figures collected by the Office for National Statistics show. And at least 10,000 more died unexpectedly from other causes.
Care UK and HC One, two of the largest national operators, have already closed dozens of homes to visitors, having re-opened them over the summer.
Care homes were shut for at least four months during lockdown, which is feared to have already had a huge impact on elderly residents.
The lack of social contact caused dementia patients’ health to rapidly deteriorate as they felt confused, isolated and abandoned.
But with a long winter ahead, and a toughening of Covid-19 restrictions announced by the Prime Minister yesterday, things don’t look set to improve.
Last week the government announced its Adult Social Care Winter Plan to curb the spread of the coronavirus in care settings.
It came after calls for a clear plan to be laid out for winter following the shambolic handling of the care home crisis in the ‘first wave’ of the pandemic.
The plan included free PPE for care home staff and a £546million Infection Control Fund.
But charities poked holes in the plans, with the Alzheimer’s Society requesting for free PPE to also be given to relatives so they can visit the elderly.
A statement from the charity said: ‘With care homes across the country once again closing their doors, we must make sure people with dementia are not cut off from vital visits from their loved ones.
‘We’re urging the Government to prioritise providing PPE and repeated, regular testing for both care home staff and for family carers.
‘Where this isn’t possible, steps must be put in place to ensure regular contact can continue between residents and their loved ones.’
Source: Daily Mail
