BRADFORD care bosses have shared their views on the Government’s latest update on care home visiting.

Restrictions have been heart-breaking for families kept apart from their loved ones through the Covid-19 pandemic, but there is some hope on the horizon amid the latest guidance. From March 8, care home residents will be allowed to hold hands with a regular indoor visitor under the Government’s plan to ease lockdown restrictions in England. 

Visitors will be required to take a coronavirus lateral flow test before entry and PPE must be worn. 

Konrad Czajka, chairman of Bradford Care Association and managing director of Saltaire-based Czajka Care Group, said of the news: “These new guidelines are a positive development and a welcome step closer to normality. It will also come as welcome news to residents and families who have been kept apart over this past year. 

“Allowing regular close contact, even under the new conditions, will be of great benefit to residents’ mental health and wellbeing. It has been heart-breaking for families and we look forward to welcoming them and seeing them regularly visit their loved ones again.”

He added: “I think at this time the balance of the rules is right. The Government has taken a cautious approach being led by the data and as more information confirms the efficacy of the vaccines and we see cases and hospitalisations in the community fall, hopefully they can then look at going further.”

However, David Crabtree, who runs two nursing homes in Bradford - Sunningdale in Manningham, and The Raikes in Silsden, told BBC Radio 5 yesterday, that it would benefit everyone psychologically, but raised concerns about the logistics of the visits.

There has been a great deal of discussion on a national level about care home staff having the Covid-19 vaccination. Professor Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer for England, said staff have a “professional responsibility” to do so.

Mr Crabtree told Radio 5 Live: “We have 100 per cent take-up without it being mandatory, and I think where you can say to people ‘why would you not?’ they would have to put up a very good argument for not wanting to take the vaccine and be employed within the care sector.”

Mr Czajka said: “At this time taking the vaccination is a personal choice and cannot be enforced, but as Chris Whitty said this week in the press conference, medical and care staff have a “professional responsibility” to take the vaccine. We would encourage any staff members who are hesitant that the vaccine has been tested and the MHRA have issued safety reports on it.”