Holding his wife’s hand and looking into her eyes, grandfather John Ross is overcome with emotion.
For a year they’ve been torn apart by the pandemic restrictions.
But now they can finally hold the hand of his beloved wife Marlene once more.
The Mirror highlighted 89-year-old John’s plight last month, when heartbreaking pictures showed how he had rapidly aged following a year with little to no contact with family.
Now that can begin to change.
John, who has vascular dementia, struggles to remember Marlene after not seeing her for so long but regular visits and proper contact will help him improve.
His daughter Penny Ogden, 59, from Liverpool, says: “My dad can start to remember my mum again, we are able to hold his hand in his room - not outside in the cold. It’s amazing to see him, he is so happy to see us. The care home has been amazing.”
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The Government told care operators they should make physical contact possible in care homes from tomorrow, using testing and PPE - following pressure from campaign group Rights for Residents, charities and MPs.
Some care homes like John’s were able to grant some compassionate visits indoors earlier, but they are the lucky ones.
Homes were given only four days’ notice by the Government after guidelines on how to facilitate indoor visits were released last Thursday. So many may still not be able to allow indoor visits and physical contact as yet, despite today’s change of rules.
Their reasoning includes concerns about safety, vaccine status and implications on insurance if a visitor were to bring the virus in, but it has led to a “postcode lottery”, of who can hold their loved ones’ hands and who can’t.
Care operators have been told they should allow three types of visit, all of which can be offered simultaneously.
There is a nominated single named visitor who can enter for regular visits, an essential care giver for residents with the highest care needs, and other visits from friends or family members with arrangements such as outdoor visits, screens, pods or window visits.
Being an essential care giver gives relatives the same status as carers, meaning they could enter a home more frequently and even if there was a Covid outbreak.
But who gets classed as which and why is still leading to confusion.
Karen Rogers’ mum Marion Searle, from Plympton, Plymouth, has deteriorated rapidly in the past year since she’s not been able to see her family.
On Tuesday Karen will be reunited with 75-year-old Marion, who has advanced dementia, but only once a week for half an hour, because her mum’s home have not classed her as an essential care giver.
Karen says: “My mum now has to be fed pureed food, can’t walk, has to be hoisted in and out of bed, is incontinent and can no longer hold a conversation.
“She has declined this bad so quickly because of lack of family contact. I would class myself as an essential care giver because of mum’s needs.
“I’ve asked if I can assist with her meals but have been told they won’t allow this.
“When I told them about the Government guidelines, I was told they were following the guidelines of the care home owner and they will not be allowing those sorts of visits for the moment.”
Elsewhere, Karyn Holden has been granted access as an essential care giver at her 91-year-old mum’s care home after being previously restricted to outdoor visits, which were distressing.
She says: “Once I’ve had tests I’ve been told I can book in and see mum as often as I like. I can sit with her all day, I can even feed her. I can’t tell you how happy me and my family are.
“But there are so many others who are locked away, confined to their rooms all alone. The Government urgently needs to legislate our rights as essential family visitors.”
Rights for Residents says the only way of ensuring care homes comply with Government guidance is enshrining it into law.
Co-founder Diane Mayhew says: “Who will be monitoring that this guidance is being followed?
“Already we’re being told that some care providers are saying they will await approval from their local authority, some are refusing to do the individual risk assessments that will lead to essential care giver status, and some are stating 28 day bans due to outbreaks.
“Rights for Residents still believe that Parliament should enshrine our rights as essential carers in law if we are ever to get out of this postcode lottery.”
Diane and her co-founder, Jenny Morrison, have been fighting hard to help families be reunited with their loved ones without being behind a screen.
They are advising families to read the guidance and know what their rights are.
Co-founder Jenny says: “Some but not all of the things we’ve been campaigning for have been acknowledged in the new visiting guidance.
“In our view it doesn’t go anywhere near far enough and, without legal change, it’s a toothless tiger.
“Risk assessments should be completed for all residents in order to establish what type of visits are appropriate for them and whether they should be assigned an essential care giver - in addition to the nominated named visitor.
“If all people are offered is one 30 minute visit without any consultation, or clear explanation relating to the risk assessment this is a clear breach of the guidance.
“Our campaign marches on but families shouldn’t accept this. If the care home is not following the guidance, families should challenge them very hard.”
Minister for Care Helen Whately said: “Visits to care homes are crucial in supporting the health and wellbeing of residents, and from today every resident will be allowed one regular indoor visitor, in addition to visitors behind screens, windows and in pods.
“This new guidance is a first step to getting back to where we want to be – which is why we need to make sure we keep the infection rate down, to allow greater visiting in a step-by-step way in the future.
“We recognise that every care home has a unique layout, physical environment and facilities, and residents have their own individual health and wellbeing needs, which is why care home providers and managers are best placed to decide how to enable visiting safely.”
