Care sector

Guidance for visitors to care homes changed on 12 April: 

• Government guidance on care home visisting
• Every care home resident can nominate up to 2 named visitors who will be able to enter the care home for regular visits (and will be able to visit together or separately as preferred).
• These visitors should be tested using rapid lateral flow tests before every visit, must wear the appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) and follow all other infection control measures (which the care home will guide them on) during visits.

• Testing onsite at the care home is preferable for assurance purposes. However, recognising that individuals now have access to testing through other routes and visitors may be travelling long distances to visit, care home managers can allow visitors to provide evidence of a recent negative test undertaken through other means if the test has been taken that same day. Alternative routes may include:

  • assisted testing at another lateral flow site such as an asymptomatic testing site (ATS)
  • self-testing at home through test kits provided by the care home once care homes have access to packs of 7 test kits (which the MHRA has authorised for self-test use)
  • self-testing at home using test kits provided by the government such as at a school, workplace, the universal testing offer, or collected from a pharmacy

• Visitors and residents are advised to keep physical contact to a minimum. Visitors and residents may wish to hold hands but should bear in mind that any physical contact increases the risk of transmission. For this reason, there should not be close physical contact such as hugging
• In addition to their 2 named visitors, residents with higher care needs can also choose to nominate an essential care giver.
• Care homes can also continue to offer visits to other friends or family members through arrangements such as outdoor visiting, rooms with substantial screens, visiting pods, or from behind windows.

Read a summary of the guidance for visitors.

Downloads

Care homes can also download and print the posters to display within their workspaces.

For more assets available to download go to Additional Resources