CARE HOMES OPENING

March 2021

March 8th 2021 will likely go down as the day most people remember the most.

Care homes finally opened their doors for loved-ones of care home residents.

Admittedly, it wasn’t how we all expected it to happen. But there was clearly a sense of relief among local people.

One family member of residents in the 52 care homes across the borough was allowed a face-to-face visit after months of the care homes being closed to visitors.

The named visitor was required to take a rapid lateral flow test and wear PPE including disposable gloves, a plastic apron, and a face mask.

The move comes under the Prime Minister’s plans to ease lockdown restrictions across the country and no doubt provided comfort to families who have been separated for months.

It wasn’t until almost a year later that all restrictions were dropped for people to enter the homes. However, residents who contracted Covid, or were in a ‘high-risk’ environment such as hospital, were told they must isolate for ten days. And if there was two confirmed cases, that was considered an ‘outbreak’ and indoor visits stopped except for particular cases such as end-of-life care. The situation could have led to a series of ‘rolling lockdowns’ as Covid spread through a home. It led to some families saying that care home residents felt ‘invisible’ and ‘forgotten’.

Dan Jarvis, MP for Barnsley Central, supported the decision to open the homes with robust measures in place, but understood residents’ concerns.

He said: “I entirely understand and share the concerns that care home residents and their relatives have raised about the current restrictions on care home visits.

“Whilst it is right that robust infection control measures are in place to keep vulnerable residents safe, this must be carefully balanced against the ability of families to see loved ones.”

Care homes have now fully reopened to the public and all sites have robust measures in place to ensure outbreaks, if they do happen again, are controlled impeccably.