MLAs in call for care home visits

Right now, care homes across Northern Ireland have halted all visits, meaning residents have been largely cut off from their loved ones.

But a DUP MLA’s proposal for the rules to be re-examined by the Department of Health gained cross-party backing at the Stormont health committee yesterday.

The committee backed the proposal by Pam Cameron that it should write to the health department to ask “what steps are being taken” around the need for visits to resume in some form.

Speaking to the News Letter, she said the time has now come to allow families to visit their loved ones in care homes – so long as measures are put in place to ensure safety.

“The Department of Health need to be assisting and guiding all the care homes and encouraging them to look and see what changes they can make to allow that to happen,” the South Antrim MLA said.

“When you consider how long people have been cut away from their loved ones, how traumatic that is ,and how vulnerable our older population is, there has to be a balance.”

People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll said: “People in care homes have a right to see their loved ones. The department should take a lead in allowing that to happen in a safe way.”

Julieann McNally, of Care Home Advice and Support NI, said: “I would welcome this move by the committee.

“Visits could be done in an outdoor setting with social distancing or PPE, or with an appointment made in advance.

“Families understand the risk and we are willing to compromise.”

Meanwhile, Northern Ireland’s chief social worker, Sean Holland, has said 85% of care home residents have now been tested for the coronavirus.

Speaking at the Stormont health committee yesterday, Mr Holland said the Department of Health is on target to have all staff and residents tested by the end of the month. The latest figures from NISRA show that 412 care home residents have died due to coronavirus, of 802 total deaths.

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