Care homes told: Your doors should not be closed to visitors

Mr Swann said he wants to see more care homes put a ‘care partners’ policy in place to allow visits.

Care home residents, who account for around 40% of all deaths due to coronavirus in Northern Ireland, were unable to receive visits from loved ones during the first lockdown imposed on Northern Ireland in March.

But in September, the Department of Health issued guidance urging care homes to allow a designated relative or carer to visit – the so-called ‘care partners’ policy.

But on Monday Northern Ireland’s Chief Nursing Officer Charlotte McArdle said, in a radio interview broadcast by the BBC, that only a “small number” of homes had put the policy into practice. Yesterday, the minister urged more care homes to follow up.

Speaking at a press conference at Stormont, Mr Swann said: “Let me again acknowledge the pain of families of care home residents still unable to visit loved ones. My position is clear. So too is departmental policy – doors should not be closed to visits because contact with others is so important.

“Some care homes have embraced the concept of care partners to facilitate visits and they have shown it can work. I want to see this followed up by other care homes.”