Home   News   Article

Care home visiting times extended for friends and family


By David Porter

Easier access to your trusted, local news. Subscribe to a digital package and support local news publishing.



Click here to sign up to our free newsletters!

Care home residents and their family and friends will soon be able to enjoy longer visits together and greater personal interaction, Health Secretary Jeane Freeman has announced.

Updated guidance published by the Scottish Government recommends easing restrictions on visiting in a range of ways, including extending indoor visits from 30 minutes to up to four hours.

Outdoor visits can be extended to include up to six visitors from no more than two households, including children and young people, for up to one hour per visit.

The new guidance also supports increased personal interaction, including hugs or hand holding, as long as strict PPE and infection prevention control measures are met.

These include-

* Personal interaction – visitors can support personal care and daily routine activities, provided this is agreed with the care home and takes place in residents’ rooms

* Touch – enabling contact with loved ones with regular training and supervision for visitors to put on and take off PPE and safety guidelines

* Family pets and therapy animals – during outdoor and indoor visiting, if agreed with the care home, and certain pre-conditions are met

* Gifts and residents’ belongings – can be brought in by visitors, when agreed with the care home manager in advance

These changes will require careful planning by care homes so will be implemented once care homes are satisfied that they can be accommodated safely, alongside existing safety measures such as the weekly testing offered to all care home staff, and sample testing in homes with no cases.

Local PPE Hubs are also in place across Scotland through Health and Social Care Partnerships to support the social care sector with PPE supplies for staff and visitors, in addition to care homes’ existing supply routes.

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman has announced new measures for care homes.
Health Secretary Jeane Freeman has announced new measures for care homes.

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said: “We know how difficult visiting restrictions have been, and it is only natural after six months of lockdown restrictions, that care home residents and their loved ones will want to see and interact with each other as much as possible.

“The Scottish Government has been actively working with Scottish Care and other care home stakeholders on a staged approach to re-introduce visiting in care homes in as safe a way as possible, while Covid-19 remains in Scotland.

“This latest guidance has been developed with input from family members, carers, and clinicians to offer greater flexibility in visiting arrangements, and indoor visiting in particular, as winter approaches.

"We will continue to actively consider how we can best support visiting in care homes, and protect those who are at most risk from this virus.”


Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.



This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies - Learn More