Ruthie Henshall calls for care home visiting law

Ruthie Henshall, with her mother Gloria, said nominated family members were loved ones' "eyes and their ears and their memory"

West End star Ruthie Henshall said care homes were "still making up their own visiting rules", as MPs met to debate the issue in Parliament.

Health and social care minister Helen Whatley told the debate: "Clearly there is still a problem."

Ms Henshall, from Ipswich, wants to introduce Gloria's law, named after her mother who died in a care home in May.

The National Care Association said it did not know of any care home "definitely not allowing visitors".

All Covid restrictions on care home visits were lifted in March and access for families is "recommended" by the government.

Ms Henshall said she and her sisters were able to be with their 87-year-old mother at her care home near Ipswich at the end, but during Covid restrictions, despite being her mother's essential carer, she was only able to wave to her through a window.

She said she was still hearing many similar stories, which was "devastating".

Ms Henshall said care homes were "still making up their own rules"

Current guidance for future outbreaks advises care home "visits should happen in all circumstances", while each resident should be allowed one visitor.

The Rights for Residents campaign is calling for Gloria's law, to protect the right of one essential caregiver to always be able to visit during Covid outbreaks.

Ms Henshall said: "We are all being asked to live with Covid now and everybody in care homes is vaccinated."

Rights for Residents wants to protect the right of one essential caregiver to visit during Covid outbreaks

Leading the Parliamentary debate on Thursday about the right to have guaranteed contact with loved ones in all care settings, Liverpool Walton Labour MP Dan Carden said: "The support of partners, the care that they give, the care given by parents, by children, this isn't an optional extra.

"Contact with loved ones is absolutely vital to dignified care."

Liberal Democrat St Albans MP Daisy Cooper said "many of my constituents fear" reporting visitor restrictions, "terrified of being labelled a troublemaker, stopped from visiting or seeing their loved one evicted".

In response, health and social care minister Helen Whatley quoted data from a Rights for Residents' survey in which "45% of respondents say there are still restrictions in place since April and during 11% of outbreaks, no visitors are allowed at all".

She added she had commissioned "work on what we can do" and she did "not consider the status quo acceptable - I am on the case".

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Joyce Pinfield, from the National Care Association, said it did not know of any care homes "definitely banning visitors", despite many being back in Covid measures.

"We follow the guidance from government and also from the local Public Health England," she said.

"But we have to remember that we have a duty of care to all our residents."

Ms Pinfield urged affected visitors to contact the association, so "we can try to assess the situation as to why".

The Care Quality Commission said its "expectation" was that care homes should follow government guidelines.