Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of requiring care homes to ensure that at least one family member is able to visit relatives weekly.

We recognise how important it is to allow care home residents to meet their loved ones safely. Maintaining some opportunities for visiting to take place is critical for supporting the health and wellbeing of residents and their relationships with friends and family.

On 12 January, we published updated guidance enabling visits to care homes to continue to take place, throughout the period of national lockdown, with arrangements such as outdoor visiting, substantial screens, visiting pods or behind windows. Every care home has their own unique set of circumstances which will impact how visiting is delivered. The visits to care homes guidance is in place to support and enable visits to continue.