Let them hold hands: A loving wife is forced to kneel in the street to see her husband's face – a heartbreaking picture of Britain's chaotic care home visiting rules

 

• Mental and physical health of many of 411,000 care home residents deteriorated
• Figures suggest there have been thousands of excess dementia fatalities 
• Crisis exacerbated by a patchwork of different visiting rules around the country 

The Daily Mail today calls on ministers to allow care home residents to reunite with their loved ones in time for Christmas.

They have been barred from meaningful contact with their families for the past eight months because of coronavirus restrictions. The rules have left them unable to hug their relatives or even hold hands.

Instead they have been reduced to waving at husbands, wives, sons or daughters through a window or plastic screen. Others have depended on 'drive-through' visits and some haven't been able to see their loved ones at all.

Without vital emotional support from family, the mental and physical health of many of the country's 411,000 care home residents has sharply deteriorated. Campaigners warn of deaths through 'loneliness and lack of love'.

Official figures suggest there have been thousands of excess dementia-related fatalities since lockdown began, the majority in care homes.

The crisis has been exacerbated by a patchwork of different visiting rules around the country. Desperate families have tried to remove their relatives from homes only for police officers to be called. Experts, charities and campaigners believe ministers should now urgently roll out mass testing to care homes to ensure residents can have face-to-face visits and even physical contact.

Today, the Mail is launching a campaign to ensure all residents have at least one relative, friend or carer designated as a 'key visitor', who receives routine testing in time for the festive period.

And this newspaper is demanding an end to the postcode lottery that means rules differ in care homes across the country, with some allowing restricted visiting arrangements and some none at all.

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The Daily Mail today calls on ministers to allow care home residents to reunite with their loved ones in time for Christmas. Pictured: Dave Stallard can only see his wife when she crouches on the street near his care home in West Sussex

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Mr Stallard (pictured with his grandchildren) doesn't understand why his family don't visit him every day like they used to

Kate Lee of the Alzheimer's Society said: 'By stopping care home visits you remove the one thing many live for, the love of their family and friends. People die of loneliness, of lack of love, of losing the things that matter most to them.

'Specific family members must be established as key workers, on an equal footing to care staff, given regular testing to ensure that they can visit properly, safely and with vital, physical contact.

'The Government has the power to give the best Christmas gift of all to people with dementia in residential care and their families – but it must do it now, before it is too late.'

Diane Mayhew, co-founder of campaign group Rights for Residents, said: 'Loneliness and isolation will kill people before coronavirus does. We have heard stories of people who just decide to stop eating and drinking, they can't take it anymore and are choosing to die.

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Official figures suggest there have been thousands of excess dementia-related fatalities since lockdown began, the majority in care homes. Stock picture

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Kate Lee (pictured visiting her mother Barbara) of the Alzheimer's Society said: 'By stopping care home visits you remove the one thing many live for, the love of their family and friends. People die of loneliness, of lack of love, of losing the things that matter most to them'

'With every day that goes by without visiting and testing, more and more people are giving up. It is cruel and inhumane. A lot of residents cannot communicate through a screen or on iPads. They are deaf, blind or have dementia – they don't understand what coronavirus is. They feel like prisoners.'

The Government yesterday announced a pilot testing scheme, beginning next week in four local authority areas. Relatives of residents in 30 care homes will be tested prior to visits, care minister Helen Whately said.

But last night her Labour shadow Liz Kendall said: 'There simply isn't enough time for many of those living in care homes to wait and watch for a pilot scheme or another set of guidelines, we need action now.'

Care home residents and staff will be prioritised with the first successful Covid vaccine but the jabs will not be rolled out until next month and it takes several weeks to build immunity.

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Shadow care minister Liz Kendall (right) said that one of her constituents, who has had to try to comfort her scared and terminally-ill mother over a video call, had told her: 'It's destroying my family'

Caroline Abrahams of the charity Age UK said: 'It's fantastic that the Daily Mail is campaigning on this issue, which means so much to hundreds of thousands of older people and their families, right across the country.

'It simply isn't acceptable for older people living in care homes to be cut off from the relatives and friends who mean most to them, for month after month. We know that some residents haven't seen their loved ones for nine months now, and it's essential we find ways of enabling safe contact as soon as possible, before for some it becomes too late.

'Most people living in care homes have dementia and it is well established that good interaction with others can help them to hold onto their memories and capacity.'

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Liberal Democrat Daisy Cooper said the current rules meant there was nothing 'to protect loved ones from dying not only in loneliness and isolation, but from it'

Dame Cheryl Gillan, vice-chairman of the Conservative backbench 1922 committee, backed the Mail's campaign, saying people in care homes long term relied almost totally on visits from relatives and friends. She added: 'Their mental state can deteriorate as levels of anxiety increase.'

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: 'We understand the pain and the very real consequences of loved ones being separated and we must get the balance right between reuniting families and ensuring care staff and residents are safe from Covid-19. We are trialling testing for visitors to reduce the risk of indoor visits and give families more opportunities to spend time with relatives.

'Our first priority remains the prevention of infections in care homes to keep staff and residents safe and we published updated guidance setting out how care homes can safely allow visits while national restrictions are in place.'  

Denying visits will trigger a mental health crisis, MPs warn

By Daniel Martin 

MPs lined up last night to warn ministers that denying care home residents the right to see their loved ones could spark a mental health crisis – and could even shorten the lives of the most vulnerable.

In an emotional Commons debate, MP after MP related 'nightmarish' stories from constituents who had been unable to see relatives during the pandemic.

They included families who had not been able to hug their loved ones for eight months or had been told they could only see them for half an hour every ten days.

Liberal Democrat Daisy Cooper said the current rules meant there was nothing 'to protect loved ones from dying not only in loneliness and isolation, but from it'.

Tory Huw Merriman attacked plans for relatives to see loved ones behind 'prison-like' screens, and warned: 'The ingredients of love, care and protection are vital in keeping vulnerable people alive and with a life.'

Shadow care minister Liz Kendall said that one of her constituents, who has had to try to comfort her scared and terminally-ill mother over a video call, had told her: 'It's destroying my family.

'I feel I am breaking every promise we ever made on looking after her.'

The MPs demanded an effective testing regime which allows key relatives to meet their loved ones.

The debate on family visits to care homes was held yesterday in Westminster Hall. Miss Cooper, the MP for St Albans, said many MPs had received letters from 'worried and often terrified constituents'.

'I for one have felt utterly heartbroken listening to some of them describe the fear and isolation that they know their loved ones are experiencing,' she said.

'It is often said that the true test of a country is how they treat their most vulnerable. And for as long as the Government holds out and doesn't implement this plan, they are failing that test.' Miss Cooper recounted the case of a constituent, Steph, who along with her four siblings were used to spending 'hours on end with their mother' in the care home. 'Eight months on from the arrival of coronavirus, Steph still can't touch her mum.'

Mr Merriman said people should have the 'right to live their years in dignity and in the company of their family and friends'. He read out a letter from a constituent who said he could only see his partner for half an hour every ten days. The constituent wrote: 'Every time we visit, she seems more and more withdrawn and most likely feels abandoned by her loved ones.'

Mr Merriman said the new guidelines, which allow visits to take place behind screens, 'read to me as more of a prison visit than a care home visit'.

Labour's Alex Sobel said: 'A combination of fear, isolation, coupled with a dearth of familiar and emotional supports is creating a mental health crisis in our social care settings.'

He read out a letter from a constituent who said he had had no contact with her 81-year-old mother 'apart from a very short video which lasted around a minute sent when requested out of desperation'.

Fellow Labour MP Dan Carden quoted from a constituent who wrote how she was finally able to see her mother but wrote: 'It's heart-breaking to see her wither away to nothing. I was not allowed to hug or touch her, she kept getting up to come to see me and I had to walk away. It was gut wrenching.'

Holly Lynch, another Labour MP, said that allowing dementia patients to see relatives behind glass can cause 'confusion and distress' as well as lead to 'premature death'.

Tory Joy Morrissey recounted the case of one husband who said his wife 'starved to death' in a care home during the first wave. The husband added: 'Her death was due to the pandemic but she didn't die from the virus itself... it was death due to refusal to eat; she was isolated and alone.'