LISTEN BACK: SAGE ADVOCACY DISCUSSES NEW HSE/HPSC VISITING GUIDANCE FOR NURSING HOMES ON RADIO KERRY February 1, 2022

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Sarah Lennon, Executive Director of Sage Advocacy, joined Jerry O'Sullivan on Radio Kerry's Kerry Today show to discuss the importance of new HSE/HPSC guidance - which will come into effect on February 8 - for nursing home residents and their families.

Ms Lennon said the new guidance is a welcome and significant stride forward for nursing home residents who had been watching the announcements around the general relaxation of Covid-19 public health guidelines previously and wondered what was going to happen with them.

She said Sage Advocacy has urged nursing home providers to adhere to the new guidelines, Ms Lennon told the Kerry Today show that the vast majority of nursing home providers recognise how important visiting is for residents' quality of life.

Ms Lennon said Sage Advocacy is keeping a close eye nationally on how the HSE/HPSC guidance is adhered to and that it will continue to support residents to maintain meaningful relationships with people who are important to them. 

She said the new guidance on visiting nursing homes reflects the general easing of Covid-19 public health restrictions.

From February 8 the guidance specifies that:

• the minimum level of routine indoor visiting should be daily visits by up to 2 people at a time.
• each resident should have the opportunity to identify one nominated support person. The nominated support person should normally have unrestricted access to the resident for most of the day
• the requirement for a vaccination certificate has been removed
• even in an outbreak a minimum level of visiting must be facilitated
• there is no requirement to limit the movement of a resident in the nursing home after returning from an outing or hospital attendance regardless of the duration of the absence

Ms Lennon said visitors can play an important part in safeguarding their loved ones in a nursing home and can also ensure that nursing home residents are healthy and happy in a nursing home.