The council is awaiting further guidance from the government about testing processes.
The council is awaiting further guidance from the government about the testing processes that will need to be in place to allow care homes to facilitate close contact visits between family members and care home residents.
At the moment these can take place via pod and window visiting where appropriate arrangements are in place and approved.
The government has issued new guidance to allow indoor visits to care homes across England as the country moves back into tiered restrictions. The council is currently reviewing this guidance and also assessing the resources that will be needed to enable care homes to do these visits in a manner that is safe, not only for the residents and their families, but also for the care homes staff.
Care homes will be asked to test their staff twice a week as well as testing up to two visitors per resident per week. This could then allow visiting to take place within care homes once a full risk assessment has been submitted by the home and approved by the councils Public Health and Infection Control Teams and when the appropriate training has been received by care home staff.
Whilst we are working closely with our care homes so that they are able to support these visits as safely as possible, we have a number of queries in relation to the testing process to enable such visits to happen and we are seeking clarity from the government.
The council has written to the homes about the latest position and the support it is offering.
Cllr Andy Morgan, Executive Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care: “The pandemic has put a tragic limit on the contact that care home residents have had with their families.
“Whilst trying to protect our most vulnerable from the devastating consequences of the virus, we have always been mindful of the effects that a lack of contact with friends and family can have. That said many of the borough’s care homes are now providing innovative pod and window visits which has certainly helped the situation.
“On behalf of everyone in our borough I would like to thank care home staff for what they are doing to keep their residents safe and happy.
“We will continue working with our care homes to ensure that they are able to support visiting of loved ones in the safest way but until such time as we are assured that all measures are in place to facilitate close contact visiting we encourage care homes to continue to allow visiting pod and window visits, along with the use of technology such as Zoom calls and Facetime to keep the residents in touch with their families.
“Only when we are confident that the appropriate guidance and safety measures are in place will we announce when it is appropriate to allow close contact visiting.”