End of covid restrictions- care homes?

[Susu49]

Now that it's freedom day, does anyone know how this affects care homes?

I thought it would apply to them but my grandpa's care home is still adhering to them with no end in site

Would you rather they risked letting Covid in to wipe out a home full of vulnerable people?

It is surely down to the homes management as to how they want to run them, imagine if they just opened the doors and Covid wiped out the majority of the residents, there would be uproar!

The care home in our street is still insisting people turn up and do a LFT then wait 30 mins for the results before letting them in to see loved ones. I think it’s very sensible.

Most places are putting rules in place, including schools, hospitals, unis

No, and there's no need for such an extreme assumption either.

However, this particular care home has been notably over-zealous in the last few months with stricter conditions than other homes (which they haven't justified) and there are still great restrictions on being able to visit.

I would simply like to be able to visit my grandfather a little more easily. He has alzheimers and thinks we have abandoned him.

onceuponarainbow thank you for your reply., I guess I'll just have to wait and see a bit longer.

Its so draining isn't it op
My dd is in a care home and at last i can visit in her room. Makes such a difference to her and me.
But she is still only allowed 3 visitors and all visits have to be booked.
Freedom day pmsl

My mum's care home has only just reopened to visitors after being closed for 8 weeks due to Covid infection.

They are reopening with previous restrictions of seeing your relative in their own room, LFT before visit and masks in communal areas . I will probably still follow that level of protection for a while, even if I'm not asked to.

It's really hard. I've not been able to visit my Aunt for weeks now due to covid in our family. I still need to wear a mask the whole time I'm there. It's difficult because my Aunts hearing is bad so wearing a mask is not helping. I do understand the need for restrictions and testing but we need to find a balance.

I'm so sorry you're in the same situation @Samcro @shinynewapple22 @Fabvegetablegrower

It's heartbreaking isn't it?

My grandpa hasn't had any visitors in 5 weeks because they've had a couple of positive covid tests within the home. We've not even been able to talk to him on the phone.

Now he has tested positive and is in isolation in his room...Before "freedom day" gov guidelines said visitations should still be facilitated but the care home wasnt, so I was really hoping we'd be able to now.

I'm just so worried for him.

My dads care home is still following their strict guidelines - all visits have to be pre booked, restricted visitor numbers, proof of negative lft, have to put on mask, apron and gloves before entering the building and temperature recorded. Visits in the family room.

It's a bit of a pain tbh, and feels a bit like overkill - I don't mind wearing a mask but hate the plastic apron and gloves. I can't see what they're supposed to achieve really.

it does seem that people in care homes have been forgotten.
what I find strange is dd can go to the pub(yay) therapists can go into the home and mix with residents.
yet if I visit I have to go straight to her room.

Working in the care sector not much has changed regarding the regulations. You see the news announcing all the rules are being dropped but if you go to the guidance for care homes on the Gov website you can see they are asking homes to continue in the same way.
Booking visits and doing the same day LFT etc so nothing has changed.
I wish they would make this clearer on the main news.

For those of you being shut out when there is an outbreak ask the home about the essential care giver role. It must allow one person to act as that role and still be allowed into the home with usual checks etc even in an outbreak.
We have given all our residents an essential car giver nominated from their family as we are in and out of outbreak like a yo yo. This means that key person can still visit throughout.

Here we are:
every care home resident should be supported to have an identified essential care giver who may visit the home to offer companionship or help with care needs – essential care givers should be able to visit inside the care home even during periods of isolation and outbreak, providing the essential care giver does not have COVID-19

@ilovebagpuss thank you, are there legal definitions about what an essential care giver is? Do they actually have to be delivering personal care?

I'm worried the care home manager will argue that a family member doesn't count unless they're actively doing something /or have another reason for refusing.

I know they're under a lot of pressure but they're not known for being...responsive.

Care homes have to follow the instructions from the local health authority, it's not just a case of Boris says everywhere is open so they should let everyone in to care homes - we got so many calls and people turning up at the door after the announcement was made - but had to turn them away and adhere to the rules we already had from the LHA until they changed their instructions to care homes (some 4 days later ) and those are that we still limit visits to non communal areas, negative LFT results, temperature taken on arrival (useless when you've been outside in cold weather and it is a non contact thermometer, but there you go!) and PPE worn (and there's conflicting advice from the same LHA there about what PPE is to be used), and limiting the amount of people in the home at any one time - so an appointment system is the fairest way to ensure that happens but that everyone gets the chance of a visit.

Of course the news doesn't announce this, nor do they say that government guidelines for homes haven't really changed, it's left to the home to communicate that to families and that's leading to the conclusion that homes are making up their own rules and excluding relatives for their own agenda. It's really frustrating to be accused of that, but I understand why that conclusion is being drawn.

Facilitating all that is harder than just being able to open the door and say "Grandad is in the lounge at the moment, enjoy your visit!" It takes time away from the actual care and makes life harder - but we're told it's to protect the residents, which ultimately is my goal as a care assistant. We have people arriving without having done an LFT and although we facilitate that by doing one before they enter, it takes away time from the visit.

My personal feeling is that restrictions in care homes will last some time and that some things will stay permanently, because the government needs to offset the way they threw care homes under the bus at the start of this and show that they're taking the risks to the vulnerable seriously now. This is a relatively low cost way of doing that.

the trouble with the appointment system is that is a care home that has say 40 residents there will only be 2 visits a day. you can take your person out, but that is often weather permitting. so you have about 30 people trying to get 14 visit slots. in ours there is no weekend visits due to staffing.

@Samcro

the trouble with the appointment system is that is a care home that has say 40 residents there will only be 2 visits a day. you can take your person out, but that is often weather permitting. so you have about 30 people trying to get 14 visit slots. in ours there is no weekend visits due to staffing.

Yes I agree with this, there's no extra staffing to allow for the extra work load, we do have weekend visits and we just have to slot it in around what else we are doing. Sometimes it can take us a little while to answer the door because we're dealing with residents needs - that doesn't stop people taking their frustration and anger out on us though.

@Maverickess I get that and we've been careful to show that we're understanding. It's very hard though when they give an obstructive attitude and don't explain things etc.

We have no problems with continuing to take LFTs, or temp checks or even ppe. Would love them to dispense with limits on visitors during the day but even if that can't happen, it's terrible that we can't reassure my grandpa for weeks on end.

Without so much as a phone call!!

It's been well documented the dreadful impact the isolation has on people. I wouldn't usually say something like this but it's like prison for them. It feels unnecessarily cruel when gov guidelines state we can see them outside.

I don't even know how to speak to someone at the LHA about it.

Just clarity - a conversation- with someone would help, this is like communicating with a brick wall!

[quote Susu49]@ilovebagpuss thank you, are there legal definitions about what an essential care giver is? Do they actually have to be delivering personal care?

I'm worried the care home manager will argue that a family member doesn't count unless they're actively doing something /or have another reason for refusing.

I know they're under a lot of pressure but they're not known for being...responsive.[/quote]
As I understand it from having essential care givers where I work they can be to provide companionship and/or to provide an aspect of practical care.
So if someone were not engaging with taking medication from the carers, the essential care giver could be there to offer reassurance and comfort to the person and support them to take their medication, which of course is better for them.
Although in reality different LHA's and homes will have different parameters for this.

Sorry its upsetting me this morning. He helped raise me and we're so worried about him.

Thank you mavericks

@Susu49

Sorry its upsetting me this morning. He helped raise me and we're so worried about him.

I totally get that, I see the results of this every shift I work and it's horrible to see, I can't imagine how it must be to live through and it's absolutely not fair on anyone involved.

What reason have they given for not facilitating phone calls at all?

I have asked people to call back at a different time because I can't facilitate the call right then as I'm doing personal care or medication or it's a meal time, and the person needs support to have the call and unfortunately due to the nature of my job I do have to prioritise need and have an equal duty of care to everyone, but I wouldn't refuse point blank, there's no covid risk in a phone call! And I honestly can't see a reason to refuse, outside of the time issue in the moment I explained above.

Does your grandpa have a social worker that you can contact? They may be able to provide clarity (or boot up care home management arse to do so) about the visiting arrangements.

I do know that we didn't have even essential care givers in when we were in outbreak (although for at least one this was their choice) though we did facilitate phone calls and window visits daily which was so important.

They've said its to do with contamination control, although I don't know why they can't wipe the phone down afterwards, it surely can't take that long?

I'm working on it, I'm hoping if we catch the manager at the right moment they'll agree to it at a pre agreed time.

They've always refused window visits They permitted them only with persuasion on his birthdays and at first lockdown Christmas...but that was certainly an exception because I was insistent rather than a policy they applied to everyone. Which is really sad.

Will be calling for an update on him soon, it looked like he was displaying covid symptoms yesterday.

The carers themselves are lovely. Hasn't always been the case there, and I know they're stuck between a rock and hard place. On the quiet they've let slip that management just don't want to spend money to assist visitations.

I'm a manager myself so I understand the complexities of budgeting but it's not like spending money on flipperies.

We'd move him if there were anywhere else but its the best of a bunch. There's another place an hour away that looks good but it's unaffordable.

*fripperies

My FIL is in an excellent nursing home but they are still insisting on a range of measures which really impact on residents. They have just come out of lockdown after about 10 weeks but if they get 2 positive tests from, I’m guessing, at least 100 staff members plus 50-60 residents, they will go back into outbreak status.

The problem is they are still behaving as if covid represents the same risk as it did 2 years ago. I’m absolutely certain many residents and their families would prefer contact and the small risk of covid ( with negative LFT ) to being kept in a luxury prison. FIL craves human touch and the sight of real faces rather than masks. To go out for lunch.

It’s time to re-examine this in a human rights context. I say this as someone who lost my very beloved father to covid in a care home in the first lockdown.

The problem is they are still behaving as if covid represents the same risk as it did 2 years ago. I’m absolutely certain many residents and their families would prefer contact and the small risk of covid ( with negative LFT ) to being kept in a luxury prison. FIL craves human touch and the sight of real faces rather than masks.

You've articulated it so much better than I did, thank you.

None of us want to put our relatives - or other residents - at risk, and I was very supportive of the tough restrictions before but now it feels like overkill.

I know someone else in my situation who feels it deliberate to stop relatives having in sight and control within the care home. I dont agree but I do get where they're coming from.