Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing primary legislation to give those in care settings the right for (a) their loved ones and (b) others to visit.

Secondary legislation was introduced in December 2023 to create a new Care Quality Commission (CQC) Fundamental Standard on Visiting and Accompanying (Regulation 9A), which came into force on 6 April 2024. This requires CQC registered care homes, hospitals, and hospices to facilitate visiting and accompanying unless there are exceptional circumstances which mean that it is not safe to do so. Visits can be from anyone the resident would like to visit with.

In April 2025, we launched a review of CQC Regulation 9A to assess whether the legislation has been effective in addressing concerns about visiting in health and care settings. Depending on the outcome of the review, we will consider whether further action is needed.