Expert Time for SNP to do what is right
A leading infection control expert has demanded that the Scottish Government start “doing what is right, not what is easy” and ensure care home residents have contact with their families.
Former nurse Claire Kilpatrick sits on the board of directors of the Infection Prevention Society and is a consultant to the World Health Organisation.
She said: “Infection control can be carried out effectively while also allowing people to have proper compassionate contact with their loved ones.
“Simply closing the doors and not allowing people to see their relatives is not best practice and nobody with expertise in this field will tell you that it is.
“Infection prevention and control should be used to enable families to safely enter care homes.
“Governments shouldn’t do anything that appears to justify blanket bans on family interactions.
“Health and social care leaders need to speak up in support of safe family visiting that follows the true ethos of infection prevention – safe practices with compassion.”
The Harry Potter fan quoted headmaster Albus Dumbledore as she called on restrictions on visits to be relaxed.
Kilpatrick said: “In one of the Harry Potter books, Albus Dumbledore says that in dark times we must ‘choose between what is easy and what is right’.
“In this case, governments and the care industry must make sure they are doing what is right and not what is easy.
“The easy thing is to simply close the doors and not allow people in care homes to see their relatives but it is not what is right.”
She added: “It is about developing the correct systems and having the confidence to put them in place.
“People need to be given training and feel confident in what they are doing.
“Families need to feel confident in what they are doing too.
“It is essential that we do this because leaving people for months on end without human contact will cost lives.”