Open with Care - supporting meaningful contact in care homes: guidance
New guidance supports meaningful contact to resume between adult care home residents and their loved ones, beginning with visiting up to twice a week. This guidance is now possible due to all the COVID-protections in place. Everyone has as important part to play in continuing to protect against COVID-19 in care homes.
How this guidance was developed
This guidance seeks to provide clear recommendations but it is ultimately for local areas and care homes, where appropriate, to take account of any individual facts and circumstances of residents in considering application of any of these recommendations and consider these against the wider risks posed to the other care home residents from the virus.
In doing so, care homes should continue their ongoing review and maintenance of risk assessments and alert the local health protection teams if the risk assessment identifies issues of concern. It is important this guidance is read in conjunction with laws which impose lockdown restrictions (and any guidance made under or about those matters), as these laws will regularly change and be updated. Independent advice should be sought by parties where they feel it necessary.
It is important that individual care home providers continue to check and comply with all legal obligations on them to be sure the care home is a safe place to visit and with any health and safety or other obligations in respect of it being a safe workplace. This guidance does not supersede or provide any advice on those matters. Independent advice should be sought on compliance with any of these matters if needed.
Content has been developed by members of the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and Chief Nursing Officer Care Homes Clinical and Professional Advisory Group (CPAG), a multidisciplinary group providing clinical and professional advice throughout. As with all guidance in this series, content aligns with Health Protection Scotland's COVID-19 Information and Guidance for Care Homes and draws on expert advice developed by SAGE, the Chief Medical Officer Advisory Group and others.
Where there are different approaches recommended for different people, for example, younger and older people living in care homes, these are based on the best clinical and professional advice available at the time the guidance was published.
Contact
Email: CareHomesCPAG@gov.scot
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