The new guidance will come into effect on 19 July.
Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has welcomed the publication of the new guidance on visits to nursing homes during the pandemic.
The guidance from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC), called Covid-19: Normalising Visiting in Long Term Residential Care Facilities (LTRCFs), will come into effect on 19 July.
Cases and outbreaks in nursing homes are now at a very low level, which is largely due to the impact of the vaccination programme.
Therefore, the public health advice is to restore visiting to near normal in terms of frequency of visits in those settings with a high level of vaccination of residents as quickly as possible. However, the government said caution will also be taken to deal with the evolving risks associated with Covid-19.
The new guidance provides that:
- Providers should put in place the necessary measures to progress to more normalised visiting and visiting frequency as quickly as possible in line with public health guidance with no more than two visitors at any one time.
- Routine visiting will no longer need to be scheduled in advance.
- There is no requirement to have a list of nominated visitors.
- The duration of the visit should not be limited.
- Fewer restrictions will apply to residents going on outings or visits outside of the nursing home.
“We have seen incremental changes over the last number of months to increase the opportunities to visit loved ones in nursing homes," Donnelly said.
"Today, we are seeing yet another positive change with the opportunity for nursing home residents to further embrace the benefits of the vaccine programme.
“We have been living with this pandemic for 16 months now, and there is no doubt that it has been and continues to be a difficult experience, and one that has acutely impacted those living in nursing homes. I’m sure it will be considered a very welcome development for people living in nursing homes, and their friends and families.”
