Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to publish updated guidance on care home visitation in areas under tier 3 covid-19 restrictions.

We recognise how important it is to allow care home residents to meet their loved ones safely, especially for those at the end of their lives. We appreciate the particular challenges visiting restrictions pose for people with dementia, people with learning disabilities and autistic adults, amongst others, as well as for their loved ones.

On 1 December, we published updated guidance to enable COVID-19 secure visits to take place for care home residents once national restrictions end. The guidance advises that enabling visits should be the default position in all care homes, regardless of their local tier. Rapid (lateral flow) tests are being sent to all care homes to enable more meaningful visits to take place in all tiers.