Welcoming visitors into our homes

Following the publication of updated Government guidance: Guidance on care home visiting - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk), we are pleased to confirm we will be incorporating these changes in our homes.

From 31st January 2022, there is no limit on the number of visitors that a single resident can have and no nationally set limit on the number who can visit in a single day. The role of Essential Care Givers remains unchanged.

Visitors will need to continue to make arrangements in advance of their visit, so care homes can manage the number of people attending at any one time to ensure safe visiting practices can be maintained. Visitors are also respectfully asked to be mindful of the additional workload for care home staff.

Visitors will need to undertake an LFD Test before entering the care home. This can be done at home before visiting, and evidence of a negative result must be provided on the day of their visit. LFD Tests may also be undertaken at our homes for people unable to take them at home.

In addition to using testing, Castlemeadow Care will continue to use robust infection prevention control (IPC) measures. This will include taking temperatures, asking about current health, and recording contact details for track and trace purposes.

Visitors must continue to wear appropriate PPE, observe social distancing and good hand hygiene when in our care homes and follow any guidance provided by the care home itself on physical contact with the person they are visiting.

Visitors who enter our homes can visit residents in their bedroom.  Our care homes are unable to facilitate visiting in communal lounges. All residents have a right to access their communal lounge areas, allowing visits to take place within communal lounges could result in residents not being able to make an informed decision about being exposed to groups of people. 

We welcome these changes, but also acknowledge that welcoming people into care homes from the community inevitably brings infection risk. We will always balance this risk against the importance of visiting and the benefits it brings to care home residents and their families/ friends.

We will update our visiting policy in light of further developments. Indoor visiting will be suspended in the event of any outbreak of COVID-19 within a home, if the Local Authority Director of Public Health announces local restrictions, or if we, as a company, believe risks have increased and it is necessary to pause visiting arrangements. Full details of our Visiting Policy can be provided on request.

We look forward to welcoming visitors to our homes.