‘I’M DESPERATE TO SEE MY MUM IN PERSON, NOT THROUGH A WINDOW’
IT has been nine months since Cathie Russell was allowed to see her mother face to face.
Rose Hamilton, 88, has been in a care home throughout the pandemic, so mother and daughter have been able to see one another only through a window.
Mrs Russell is one of the founding members of the Care Home Relatives Scotland group, which broadly welcomes the move for testing that will allow some families to see one another.
Last night, she said: ‘I am desperate to see my mum in person again, sit with her and show her pictures of her grandchildren.
‘We can’t do that three metres apart through a window.’
The news does not bring immediate hope that the move will see mother and daughter reunited quickly, as Mrs Hamilton is in a Level 4 area care home, which is subject to the strictest measures in Scotland.
There is some trepidation because earlier guidance to allow indoor visiting was not implemented by many care homes.
Mrs Russell said: ‘It has been the story all along – we get good news and an impression that things are improving, but until we actually see people getting in and seeing their relatives, then we will be treating it all with a pinch of salt.’
She added: ‘We are really disappointed the Christmas guidance stops indoor visiting in Level 4 – there should be no stage at which visiting is stopped.’ Last night Tracy Lott, 48, whose 104 yearold grandmother Dora Nutt has not had a hug for more than 260 days, welcomed the progress.
She said: ‘I am very happy to hear that they are now taking on board the importance of getting the situation resolved and it cannot come soon enough.’
Some people believe the move has come too late and that they have already lost valuable time with relatives.
Anna Cunningham has watched through a window as her 83-yearold mother Maria Czerkawskyj, who lives with end-term vascular dementia in an Edinburgh care home, has rapidly deteriorated.
She said: ‘My mum has deteriorated so fast, I do not have time to waste – I need in now.’