Commons Sense

Last week I was grateful to be able to lead a debate on families’ access to care homes. Throughout this pandemic too many families have been separated from their loved ones. This has been most greatly felt I think within our care homes.

While the intentions behind restricting family visitation is good, the unintended consequences can be disastrous. Deprived of familiar faces older care home residents can start to deteriorate rapidly, while dementia patients can begin to see their grip on memories weaken even faster.

Yet this extends beyond older residents and includes those who are young but with mental disabilities also rely upon visitation from family and loved ones. A tragic case of this was the case of Jamie MacFarlane, a disabled patient who’s condition quickly worsened during the lockdown in spring and tragically resulting with his death.

Throughout this pandemic we have had to emphasise trade-offs and this should be no exception. Protecting care homes from coronavirus at all costs is no good if the cure is worse than the disease.

I am pleased then that the Government has committed to looking at this issue urgently. Most promisingly with the trial of COVID-19 testing for family and friends of care home visitors. This is the first step in opening up our care homes and allowing greater access to residents without exposing them to the dangers of the pandemic. This good news has only been possible as a result of the advances in rapid tests which will soon be rolled out more widely, and also because of the massive expansion in testing capacity we have seen this year.

Despite how bleak things seem right now it is heartening that we continue to see good news pop up around us. From mass testing, to vaccines, and to care home visits, it does seem that there is indeed light at the end of the tunnel.