Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to procure rapid covid-19 tests to facilitate an increase in visitor access to care homes.

All Care Quality Commission-registered adult care homes are receiving lateral flow device (LFDs) test kits to enable safe visits, where permitted.

Care home residents will be able to be visited indoors by a single, named individual from 8 March as part of the Prime Minister’s roadmap to ease lockdown restrictions. The scheme will allow a single visitor to spend time indoors with their relative or friend in a care home, and make repeat visits under carefully designed conditions to keep residents, staff and visitors safe