Care Settings: Right to Maintain Contact

Alison Bennett Excerpts

Tuesday 24th June 2025 Westminster Hall

[Alison Bennett (Mid Sussex) (LD)]

It is very much appreciated that you have come to chair this important debate, Ms Butler, and I thank the hon. Member for Liverpool Walton (Dan Carden) for securing it. As the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) just said, the number of people in this debate is not a reflection of its importance. All hon. Members who have contributed have spoken with real moral authority and have reflected the gravity of what we are talking about: the rights of some of the most vulnerable people in our society—those living in care homes, hospitals and hospices—and their right to maintain contact with and see their loved ones.

Throughout the covid-19 pandemic, thousands of people living in care settings in my constituency and across the country were forbidden from seeing those closest to them. That was especially devastating for residents living with conditions such as dementia or severe memory loss, which affect approximately 70% of care home residents. For those individuals, familiar faces are more than just comforting; they are essential to their sense of identity and stability. Let us imagine being cut off from the people we know best, who can calm us in moments of confusion, and who understand our needs in ways that no staff member possibly can. This is not an abstract issue but a painful reality that caused immeasurable harm during the pandemic.

Even as the rest of the country began to reopen in 2022, care homes continued to impose harsh restrictions. Data shows that between April and September 2022, 10% of care homes permitted no visitors at all during covid outbreaks, 20% confined residents to their rooms for up to 28 days and nearly half maintained some form of visiting restrictions even without any outbreak present. The impact of those policies was brutal. Vulnerable people in Mid Sussex and across the country were left isolated and confused, their symptoms worsening without the emotional and practical support that only loved ones can provide.

I want to share a story that will be distressing to some. Last week, I was horrified to watch a report on BBC South East about a 92-year-old gentleman, Donald Burgess, from East Sussex. Donald was a wheelchair user, having had one leg amputated, and on 21 June 2022, he was reportedly brandishing a knife in his wheelchair, having become irritable and confused. Care home staff failed to resolve the situation and so the police were called. Donald was sprayed with pepper spray, hit with a baton and tasered by police, all while still in his wheelchair. Donald was taken to hospital as a result of those injuries, and he subsequently caught and died from covid-19 a couple of weeks later.

On the BBC South East news report last week, Donald’s family were interviewed. Those family members only lived 10 minutes away from his care home. They said that if they had been called, they would have been able to go there and, potentially, calm him and resolve the entire situation. It is beyond tragic that that happened, and that it is how Donald’s life ended. If hon. Members present who are not from the south-east region are interested, the video and reports of the attack on Donald are available to view online.

I commend the tireless work of advocacy organisations such as the Relatives and Residents Association, Rights for Residents, Care Rights UK and John’s Campaign. Their efforts have been instrumental in raising awareness and pushing for change. I also commend the way that the hon. Member for Liverpool Walton set out the case for the required change.

The Government’s recent introduction of regulation 9A by the Care Quality Commission—a new fundamental standard on visiting and accompanying—is a welcome step forward. But while that regulation aims to ensure that care providers do not discourage visits, and that people can attend medical appointments accompanied by a family member or advocate, it falls short of what is needed. Regulation 9A relies on enforcement by the CQC, an organisation that is well understood to be stretched thin and facing a number of challenges. The CQC cannot prosecute providers for breaches of the regulation, and often lacks the resources for swift and consistent enforcement. Most importantly, the regulation does not create an enforceable right held by the individual resident. That gap leaves residents and their families vulnerable.

Without clear legal protections and a statutory right to visitation, we risk repeating the mistakes of the past. That is why my Liberal Democrat colleagues and I are calling on the Government to implement Gloria’s law without delay. Gloria’s law would enshrine in primary legislation the right for every person in a care or health setting to have at least one essential care supporter present, regardless of circumstances. As Rights for Residents says,

“only Gloria’s Law will guarantee that none of us will be forcibly separated from our loved ones again”.

I urge the Minister to answer the following important questions. First, does she believe that regulation 9A alone is sufficient to prevent isolation and ensure that residents can be supported in times of crisis or future public health emergencies? Secondly, are the Government confident that the CQC and the Department of Health and Social Care have the capacity, resources and real-time data systems to monitor visiting arrangements and act swiftly if restrictions become harmful? Thirdly, will the Government commit to going further by passing Gloria’s law, guaranteeing a statutory right to unrestricted in-person support from at least one essential care supporter?

The lessons of the pandemic are clear. Families are not visitors but vital partners in supporting those we love through their most vulnerable moments, so let us act now and give vulnerable people the rights they need and deserve. In doing so, perhaps we will save lives like Donald’s.