To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the proportion of care home residents who have an essential care giver; what assessment he has made of whether that proportion has increased during the covid-19 outbreak; and what estimate he has made of the proportion of adults in England who have a close relative in a care home who has been informed that care home residents are entitled to visits from an essential care giver in the event that that home is in lockdown.
This answer is the replacement for a previous holding answer.
Answered on
26 July 2022
No specific estimate has been made as the Government’s guidance no longer refers to essential care givers. The Government's updated guidance now states that residents should receive visits from loved ones, including during outbreaks of infectious diseases within a home or when a resident is in isolation, where the guidance states each resident may have at least one visitor.
However, in the week ending 29 June 2022, 95.4% of care homes in England accommodated residents receiving visitors.