MPs call for Covid ban on care home visits in England to be made illegal

A parliamentary human rights committee has called on ministers to legislate against blanket bans on care home visits in England that relatives claim are causing deaths through loneliness and isolation.

Harriet Harman, the chair of the cross-party joint human rights committee of MPs and peers, has asked the health secretary, Matt Hancock, to require care homes to allow face-to-face visits – including without screens – unless an individual safety assessment judges it unsafe.

It comes amid rising anger among relatives as many care homes remain shut to all but end-of-life visits in an attempt to keep out new fast-spreading Covid variants. This is despite government guidance that they should set visiting policy “on the basis of a dynamic risk assessment taking into consideration the needs of individuals within their home”. Relatives claim that a designated visitor, regularly tested, adds no more risk than a care worker and provides vital support.

Deaths of care home residents mentioning Covid on the death certificate in England and Wales have risen to the highest level since last May, bringing the care resident death toll across the UK to more than 36,000.