THE Manager of Fruithill Nursing Home in Andersonstown has welcomed the new visiting regulations announced by the Department of Health.
New guidance that will facilitate increased visiting in health and social care settings in the North come into effect from this Friday.
Speaking to the Andersonstown News, Seon Mac Stiofain said: “This has been a long process getting to this stage and I think that it is going to be extremely beneficial for the residents and their families and I welcome that this is going to be standardised across the entire country.
“These guidelines apply to all care homes in terms of what level of contact that families can have. Until this point different care homes have been doing different things and we at Fruithill have been following the best practice guidelines so a lot of the stuff that has been proposed, we have already implemented.
“We already have two care partnerships in place per resident and this will allow us to offer extra visits, we have already had visits in place for people who are dying. We have had these in place for the past eight months.”
Discussing how he hoped this would be the beginning of a return to normality, he added: “We are very hopeful that this is the beginning of a return to normality but we are also very cautious in terms of opening up to the general population and the impact that might have on the care homes if there is another spike.
“However, we are better prepared for it this time on the basis that all of our residents have been vaccinated, most of our staff have been vaccinated and the general population are being vaccinated.
“Everyone within the home is also fully up to speed in terms of the need for PPE, social distancing and hand washing which should allow us to open further.
“Residents being allowed out of the homes for short visits to families is going to be a big benefit for them as well. This will allow them to go on picnics with their families or visits to the beach and I am very hopeful that the whole system is now going to be resident focused.”
Health Minister Robin Swann said: “I fully recognise the importance of visiting for those who are receiving care. I hope this guidance will be widely welcomed.
“It is also important to remember that the threat from Covid-19 remains very real. Everyone has a vital role to play when it comes to safe visiting. That includes social distancing, hand hygiene and not visiting if you are feeling unwell yourself."
