Updated Care Home Visits Guidance 28/01/22

You may well have seen the recent update about changes to the guidance regarding care home visiting in the national press this week.

We very much welcome the return of visitors to residents in Stichell House and Gretton Court, it has been such an incredibly challenging time for residents and families, indeed it’s almost impossible to express how difficult it has been in words. I am sure that you share our opinion and are hopeful that this is a positive step forward in dealing and living with the Covid-19 Pandemic.

I wanted to let you know that at time of writing we still have not received the updated Government guidance and only have the information contained in the Government press release, headlines and link to the full press release included below.

Anticipation is that the guidance will come our later tonight or even over the weekend. In my mind the updated guidance for care homes will include more detailed information about the number of visitors, testing arrangements, continued use of PPE, assessing the risk of external visits etc.

Please be assured that we will do everything we can to enable visits and I would respectfully request your understanding as we seek to make sure we have the full guidelines and can implement them, for the safety and welfare of Stichell House and Gretton Court residents.

The headlines are contained in the press release are:

• “From Monday 31 January, there will be no limit on the number of visitors allowed into care homes and self-isolation periods will be cut and now care homes only have to follow outbreak management rules for 14 rather than 28 days".
• "By Wednesday 16 February, care workers will be asked to use LFD tests before their shifts replacing the current system which included the use of weekly asymptomatic PCR tests.”
• “Changes to testing and isolation requirements for those receiving care include:
  • Self-isolation periods reduced from fourteen to ten days for those who test positive, with further reductions if they test negative on days five and six.
  • Isolation periods for those in care following an emergency hospital visit will be reduced from 14 to a maximum ten days, in line with the NHS and following the latest advice from SAGE.
  • Removing testing or self-isolation requirements following normal visits out.”

Please click here to access the link to the full Government Press Release.