New hope for hugs at care homes...
CONTACT John and Marlene Ross, February last year
CARE home residents deprived of direct contact with family for almost a year could soon hold relatives’ hands again, a minister has suggested.
Helen Whately claimed the Government hopes to increase the number of visits as Covid cases fall and restrictions are eased.
But the Care Minister has been accused of lacking clarity over a timetable for the move after saying only she “wants to make it happen” before residents have received their second vaccination dose.
The family of care home resident John Ross said Ms Whately has yet to take action, as the agony goes on for them. Daughter Penny Ogden, 59, said: “It’s no good her saying she ‘thinks’, or she ‘wishes’, she’s got to say it’s going to happen. She won’t give us any specifics but she would if it were her parents in a home. She’d move heaven and Earth.
“A year ago when they locked down the home, I thought it would be for a week or two. Never in my wildest dreams did I think we’d be in this position today.” On Wednesday, the
Mirror told how John, from Liverpool, has only seen Marlene, his wife of 63 years, once for 20 minutes since March 2020, and his children a handful of times. Residents have suffered loneliness, deprivation and confusion since having their links with family and friends cut due to the tough curbs. An estimated 20,000 died in the first Covid-19 wave last spring after NHS patients were discharged from hospitals to care without testing negative.
Visits to care homes have been restricted to outdoor settings or through substantial screens.
Campaign group Rights for Residents co-founder Diane Mayhew said of Ms Whately: “Once again we have a ministerial announcement at which relatives are expected to be jubilant.
However, the announcement is vague and lacks clarity. In December the Prime Minster announced all residents would be able to hug and hold the hands of their loved ones by Christmas. This promise was broken as most managers ignored the guidance in favour of continuing to lock out families. Without a change in the law that forces care homes to enable visits it’s likely we’ll return to that.” Jamie Greaves’s 73-year-old mum Patricia is deteriorating in her Brighton care home without regular contact with her son. He said Ms Whately’s announcement was “100% a step in the right direction”. But he added: “What are we waiting for?”
Sharon Clay, 65, from Hornchurch, East London, has not been allowed to see her mum, 91, in person since November.
She said: “Being able to see her again would save my sanity, and it will save mum’s life.
“I’m watching my mum deteriorate and it’s scary now. Ms Whately admitted ministers must be “cautious” about relaxing curbs.
She added: “I am determined so we can see people go back, even if it’s to hold hands and see someone who you haven’t been able to very much over the last year. I really want to make that happen again.
“What I want to do, as we come out of the lockdown, is also increase the amount of visiting.
“I don’t see that we have to wait for the second vaccination dose.”
Figures last night showed 12,057 more cases were recorded, down 20% on the rolling weekly average.
The death toll rose by 454, down 27% on the seven-day average, to 119,387. And 16,423,082 first doses of the vaccination have been given.