NOTE FOR CARE HOME VISITORS
We are delighted that we can now offer inside visits again, but care home staff will ask you to follow certain protocols, which must be adhered to in order to keep
everyone safe. Friends of the Elderly follow Government guidance around care home visiting guidance, issued on 4th March 2021.
We urge you to listen to the guidance that your care home team will provide on the day of your visit.
Here are the key messages at this time:
• As long as a home is not in outbreak you will be able to visit your friend or relative in our secure visiting areas as you have previously. The process for booking visits in our secure areas remains the same.
• Further to this, each resident will be able to appoint a ‘Single Named Visitor’ who can visit them inside the home. This person must be agreed by the resident and they must follow all infection control procedures outlined by the care home.
This includes undertaking a Lateral Flow Test that shows a negative Covid-19 result before entering the home, wearing appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and only accessing areas of the home approved by the care home manager.
• According to the guidance, each resident can also have a visitor who is an ‘Essential Care Giver.’
• The care home manager will have the final say in who can visit inside the care home and when, in accordance with the government guidance.
• Inside visitors will be able to hold their family member or friend’s hand, but closer contact such as hugging is not, at this time, allowed. Visitors must follow care home staff guidance around infection control processes.
• Food and gifts can be brought in for the resident, but it must be in packaging that allows for it to be easily cleaned.
• You do not have to have been vaccinated to visit a resident inside a care home, but you must have a negative Lateral Flow Test result on the day of your visit.
• Your care home will be able to provide you with detailed information about how long inside visits can last and where they will take place in each Friends of the Elderly care home, so please contact your care home team for this information.