Care Home Visits

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:26 pm on 6 October 2020.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 2:26, 6 October 2020

Llywydd, the Member raises one of the most challenging issues that faces the care home sector, for all the reasons that she has set out: the harm that is done to residents when they are unable to see their relations, and balanced against that, as Delyth Jewell said, the need to prevent the introduction of coronavirus into homes, when we know from our experience earlier in the year that once it gets in there, there's a very vulnerable population, and the harm can be very considerable.

We do constantly update our guidance. The last guidance published on 28 August was followed up on 23 September with a letter from Albert Heaney, the head of social services here at the Welsh Government, and Gillian Baranski, the chief inspector of Care Inspectorate Wales, and again on 2 October, with further detail in a further update from Mr Heaney. Shall I, Llywydd, just briefly read the final paragraph of that letter, because it shows how we are trying to respond to the points that Delyth Jewell made? So, our advice to the sector, in the letter, says that the Welsh Government is keen to strike a balance between protecting people living in care homes from the very real risks posed by coronavirus and maintaining their well-being and contacts with family. It is important that we avoid an unnecessarily restrictive blanket approach and that visits to care homes are supported where safe and possible.

I will be meeting tomorrow, Llywydd, myself, with Care Forum Wales and a number of other bodies that are responsible for the way in which care homes are run. We will be discussing this matter along with other matters to do with the safe running of care homes during the coronavirus crisis, and the sorts of possibility that Delyth Jewell mentioned in her supplementary question will, I'm sure, form part of that discussion.