Following yesterday’s announcement from the First Minister of additional restrictions being introduced to address the upsurge in the number of Covid19 cases  across Scotland it is important to underline the situation in regard to care home visiting.

All indoor and outdoor care home visiting is exempt from the new national restrictions and can continue as before. The only exception to this are care homes which are in those local areas already under additional restrictions and where indoor care home visiting has been suspended, such as in West of Scotland, Lanarkshire etc. In all other areas both outdoor and indoor visiting, subject to risk assessment and sign off by Public Health Scotland, are able to take place.

The critical role of visiting for the mental health and physical wellbeing of both resident and family member cannot be over-emphasised. We are grateful for the First Minister’s statement which affirms both the rights of family to be together in our care homes and for the measures being taken to make this process as practical and natural as possible.