Covid in Wales: Care home visiting restrictions eased

Many families and friends are now able to visit loved ones inside care homes in Wales and hold their hand for the first time in over a year.

Until Monday, only two designated visitors could make visits indoors, due to Welsh government guidance.

Now, changes in guidance allow anyone to visit, but residents can only see two people at a time.

"You do worry they may catch it and you may never see them again," said Jessica Banfield, who visited her grandmother.

Ms Banfield went to see Iola Roberts, 87, at the Old Vicarage care home in Llangollen, Denbighshire, and described the anguish her family felt not being able to spend either her birthday or Christmas with her in 2020.

Praising staff, she added: "They've had to take on that extra role of being family for them and supporting us saying 'they're OK, they're happy', because you feel such distance."

The family are now looking forward to celebrating Iola's 88th birthday this summer with a barbecue and a tea party.

It is up to individual care homes and councils to decide whether to allow visits.

Old Vicarage manager Bethan Mascarenhas said: "Pets are a huge thing, and a huge comfort to residents, especially if they are shared with spouses.

"And there is a bit more guidance around trips out, which is really exciting for residents."

First Minister Mark Drakeford said the changes would "improve the quality of life for residents and their families".

They come as Covid case rates continue to fall and will allow care homes for adults and children to open their doors to more relatives and friends.

Many people have been unable to visit family and friends in care homes since indoor visits were halted at the start of the pandemic, with some only able to see residents through windows.

Relatives had criticised the restrictions as cruel, with children and partners describing how they were unable to hold their loved one's hand or reassure them in the months before they died.

While outdoor visits have been permitted since last summer, local lockdown rules and outbreaks meant many care homes temporarily stopped people visiting.

Indoor visits by one designated person have only been allowed since 13 March.

On 26 April, as beer gardens and outdoor cafes reopened, visiting guidance was eased, allowing two people to visit a care home resident indoors at the same time.

However, under the rules these had to be designated visitors, meaning the same two people had to visit every time.

Under the new guidance, any two people will now be able to visit inside at a time, after having a negative Covid test.

It comes as more than one million people received both doses of their Covid vaccine in Wales, with the weekly infection rate now standing at 9.7 cases for every 100,000 people.

While visitors can hold their relative's hand, they have to wear face masks, unless they are socially distanced from residents and in a well-ventilated room.

Babies and very young infants do not count towards the visitor limit, but the Welsh government is advising them not to visit indoors due to social distancing concerns.

There are no limits to the numbers of people able to visit outside.

Friends and family are also now allowed to take animals in to care homes for visits.

Prydwen Elfed-Owens has only been able to be in the same room as her husband twice during the pandemic, and has been talking to him through a window.

Her husband Tom, who has dementia, has not been outside his care home in St Asaph, Denbighshire, for the past 18 months.

Although they have both had two doses of the Covid vaccine, Mrs Elfed-Owens has only been allowed by the care home to visit him face-to-face twice.

She said the vaccines and tests before visits were pointless, adding: "We still can't go anywhere near a person who needs affection, now more than any time, at all."

Mrs Elfed-Owens said she feared her husband would also "give up" if restrictions at the home did not change.

The care home declined to comment and the Welsh government said, while it encouraged all care home providers to allow indoor visits, visiting rules were down to the individual care home.

"Care homes should do this in a way that minimises risk to residents and visitors based on a dynamic risk assessment of the circumstances of the individual care home, and the people living there," a spokesperson said.

Care Forum Wales, which represents health and social care providers, said the guidelines were clear, and that while homes wanted to allow visits by relatives, they must also assess the risks.