Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reasons the guidance for care home visiting differs with that for hospice visiting in respect of covid-19 outbreak restrictions.

Care homes and hospices are different settings and their residents have different care needs. For this reason, guidance must differ for each other these settings in respect of visiting during COVID-19 outbreaks. Hospices provide care for people from the point at which their illness is diagnosed as terminal to the end of their life. Most hospices are independent, charitable organisations, with visiting policies at the discretion of the hospice manager.