'Nursing homes should be monitored for compliance on visiting rights'

Sinéad McGarry of the Irish Association of Social Workers.

Nursing homes should be monitored to ensure that visits are facilitated and the rights of residents are protected, the Irish Association of Social Workers (IASW) has said.

While welcoming new guidance, which permits in-person visits to resume from March 22, the association called on the Government to monitor compliance and, if necessary, enforce the new guidance.

The vaccine rollout has enabled the relaxing of visitor restrictions in nursing homes where 80% of residents and staff have been vaccinated and subject to risk assessment.

While many families had positive experiences of visiting loved ones, it was not the universal experience, social worker and IASW member Sinéad McGarry said.

Allowing visits on general compassionate grounds was “fundamentally flawed” and “paternalistic”, Ms McGarry said, adding that the right to family life should not depend on how individual nursing homes interpret the guidance.

“From our experience compassionate grounds are subjective and can be very different from one nursing home to the next. It is a fundamental flaw in the guidance,” Ms McGarry said.

“Family life is not based on compassionate grounds but is based on basic human and fundamental rights,” she added.

The new guidance, she added, failed to include an explicit reference ruling out any nursing homes banning socially-distanced window and outdoor visits.

The updated rules left a clear rights gap, she said, adding that residents and families need clear guidance on how they can uphold their rights.

“Issuing guidance without enforcement is a policy choice and it’s a policy choice that has failed families over the past year,” Ms McGarry said.

Sarah Robinson, whose 95-year-old grandmother Clare Walsh is in a nursing home in Wexford, said where nursing homes faced challenges they should be provided with additional supports to ensure families can stay connected.

Ms Robinson said her family had been managing with video calls since December and hoped the new rules would mean more visits.