SNP MP support for care homes lifeline
Joanna Cherry puts pressure on Sturgeon by siding with families
One of Nicola Sturgeon’s most senior MPs has backed new laws to end months of devastating isolation for care home residents.
Joanna Cherry QC spoke in support of “essential caregiver” legislation at Westminster’s Human Rights Committee.
Her intervention will increase pressure on the First Minister to consider the Sunday Mail’s campaign for Anne’s Law in Scotland.
We want residents to be given a legal right to contact with their closest loved ones.
One of the SNP’s most senior MPs has spoken out in support of new laws to end Scotland’s care home visiting scandal.
Joanna Cherry QC appeared to back“essential caregiver” legislation during a meeting of Westminster’s influential Human Rights Committee last week.
Her intervention is in line with the Sunday Mail’s campaign for Anne’s Law to end 10 months of devastating Covid-19 isolation for thousands of care home residents.
Named in honour of dementia sufferer Anne Duke – who has been separated from her family since last March – it would give nominated relatives the same access rights to their loved ones as staff.
Around 300 residents are dying every week of Covid and non- Covid related conditions but all with virtually no contact with their families.
Cherry, an experienced lawyer who specialised in mental health issues before entering Parliament, insisted politicians had a “responsibility to find a solution”.
After hearing evidence from John Amos, who has been cut off from his wife L esley, Cherry repeatedly suggested an essential caregiver
law could be the answer. Referring to legislation set to be enacted in Ontario, Canada, she said: “This gives designated family members who are essential caregivers an equal right to access care homes as the staff, by recognising their vital support role.
“Do you think if we were to pass legislation similar to that in the UK, UK essential caregiver legislation giving people like you the right to go into the home like a paid carer, do you think that might work?”
When John said he believed it wouwould, so long as it was mandatory for care homes to comply, Cherry added: “What you say is right, it would have to be actual legislation so tthere is a legal right for people like yourself to be designated an essential caregiver and to enter the home and there is also Government guidance.
“Presumably that would address the issue that you have and would allow you to get back to what you had before.”
Cherry is one of the SNP’s most high- profile MPs aand has been touted as a successor to Nicola Sturgeon as party leader.
Ontario’s More Than A Visitor Act means that two friends or family members of each resident can demand unrestricted access to their loved ones.
The legislation is awaiting a final vote before becoming law but the government there has issued a directive that allows families to demand access in the meantime.
Essential caregiver legislation would mean every resident or their legal guardian could name one or two people to be allowed access at any time.
It would be based on the principle that these people were essential to wellbeing and therefore couldn’t be locked out even during a pandemic.
In Ontario, two named caregivers
can visit without time limits individually or both at the same time.
In Scotland, Sturgeon is considering calls – led by the Sunday Mail – to introduce similar legislation.
Experts have warned of a humanitarian disaster in which thousands have given up on life due to loneliness and depression during lockdown.
All of Scotland’s opposition parties have backed a plea from thousands of families who have been forced to watch loved ones endure 10 months of coronavirus lockdown isolation.
A petition launched by Anne Duke’s daughter Natasha Hamilton calling for Sturgeon to take action has been signed by 88,000 people.
Scot t i sh Labour ’ s hea lth spokeswoman, Monica Lennon, said: “It’s good to see senior members of the SNP speaking up on this issue and taking on board the urgent need to end the crisis in our care homes.”
Cathie Russell, founder of the Care Home Relatives Scotland group, added: “It was great to see Joanna Cherry speaking out on this. It gave us real hope that we are going to get some action on this.
“She clearly understood the issue and knows what has to be done.
“There is a terrible situation uation
that has been allowed to develop where the only harm that is being taken into consideration in care homes is Covid-19.
“The truth is that hundreds of residents are dying every week, many of them as a result of depression and loneliness. lone lin
“This is an inhumane tragedy that needs to be resolved as soon as possible.
“It is not good enough to continue to wait in home for the virus to go away, we need to learn to live with it and allow families tto come back together.
“Anne’s Law would be a huge step forward in making sure people are never separated from their closest loved ones ever again.”