Campaigners demand more family contact with care home relatives

Campaigners gathered outside the Scottish Parliament to call for care home visiting restrictions to be eased yesterday.

Around 50 people protested outside Holyrood, with some holding photographs of family members.

They have been supported by Scottish Labour’ s health and social care spokeswoman Monica Lennon, who is calling for relatives to be allowed more access to care facilities.

Since 10 August, up to three visitors from two households have been able to see care home residents in outdoor meetings. Indoor visits are also now allowed in restricted circumstances, where the care home meets certain conditions including weekly coronavirus testing of staff and a risk assessment approved by the local director of public health.

But campaigners say relatives have been prevented from providing an essential caring role for family members in care homes since the lo ckdown restrictions were imposed.

Ms Lennon said: “Six months since the ban on care home visiting was first introduced, the Scottish Government is still failing to recognise that husbands, wives, children and grandchildren are not simply visitors, they are caregivers and their loved ones are suffering mentally, emotionally and physically the longer contact is prevented or severely restricted.

“Older and disabled people living in care homes cannot be expected to live their lives in isolation without the companionship and affection of their closest family and friends.

“After making terrible decision sat the start of the pandemic, including sending older people into care homes without testing for the virus and limiting their access to healthcare, the Scottish Government’s caution is understandable but it is not proportionate.

“Car park visits and waves at the window are falling short of the contact and care that older and disabled people in care homes need. Scottish Labour has previously put for ward proposals for family caregivers to be given access to routine testing and PPE and afforded the same status as care staff.”

Ms Sturgeon said :“These are in a set of circumstances where every decision we have to take right now is a tough one, with no easy answers.

“The decisions around care homes are probably the toughest of all because we understand how vulnerable losing care homes are how much anguish there is on the part of friends and family in particular when they can’t see loved ones as normal.”