Published on 

Minister for Mental Health and Older People welcomes the publication of new Visitation Guidance for Nursing Homes

Minister for Mental Health and Older People welcomes the publication of new Visitation Guidance for Nursing Homes

The Minister for Mental Health and Older People, Mary Butler, T.D., welcomes the publication by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) of new COVID-19 Guidance on visitations to Long Term Residential Care Facilities.

The new guidance aims to further support long-term residential care services (including nursing homes) and residents in planning visits across all levels of the framework for restrictive measures in the Government’s Resilience and Recovery 2020-2021: Plan for Living with COVID-19. The new guidance also includes further advice recognising that major cultural or religious festivals, such as Christmas, are of significance for residents and their families.

This new guidance outlines an updated definition for ‘critical and compassionate circumstances’, which now provides that residents may be facilitated to receive:
• up to one visit by one person per week under Levels 3 and 4 of the framework;
• up to one visit by one person per two weeks under Level 5;
It also notes that at all framework levels every practical effort should be made to accommodate an additional visit on compassionate grounds during the period of a major cultural or religious festival or celebration of particular significance to the resident, such as the Christmas/New Year period.

To allow time for making arrangements and planning for the implementation of the guidance, the new guidance comes into effect from 7th December 2020.

Welcoming the publication, Minister Butler said: “Across society, 2020 has been a very challenging year as we try to live with COVID-19 in the safest possible way. That challenge has been significant in nursing homes, where normal life for residents and staff has had to change so much. Social interaction and meeting family and friends is important to the health and wellbeing of residents and factors significantly in their quality of life.

However, as we have sadly learned, COVID-19 can have a particularly serious impact on older people and those who are medically vulnerable. Managing this risk requires vigilance and a range of public health measures as we try to strike the balance between the necessary protective public health measures and the mental health and wellbeing of residents and their family and friends. I thank the HPSC for its commitment to re-examine importance guidance, such as visiting guidance for nursing homes and other residential care services, on a regular basis.”

Minister Butler continued: “While unfortunately the risk posed by COVID-19 means that we will all have to celebrate Christmas in a different way this year, the new visiting guidance identifies further opportunity for managed social interaction and residents receiving visits from family. In doing so, as noted in the guidance, we must continue to have the protection and safety of all residents at the forefront of our considerations.”

She concluded: “It is important that we recognise the challenges faced by nursing home staff throughout the pandemic and acknowledge their work to care for and keep safe the residents under their care, as they try to balance the range of needs of residents and the required protective measures.

I again request that all nursing home providers make every practical effort to facilitate visiting in a safe way in line with this important new guidance during the Christmas period and beyond. Communication and a collaborative approach is key and I also ask providers to review communication processes, so as to ensure that they communicate with residents and families in a timely and detailed way with regard to visiting arrangements.

Acknowledging the difficult year this has been for families, I ask that families work in a positive and as flexible a way as possible with the staff of the nursing home that you plan to visit, to ensure the safety of all of the residents and staff of that nursing home.”