Dear Relatives,

In England, the Government has just announced that visits to care homes may take place following a ‘negative Covid-19 test’. I just wanted to clarify that this relates to the new Lateral Flow Tests only. The new Lateral Flow Test (or LFT) can give a test result within 30 mins. Thus enabling us to have an accurate up-to-date Covid-19 test result from which we can either agree or decline a visit almost instantly assuming it was pre-booked.

As of today less than a handful of our homes have received these new LFT tests and as such until your particular service receives their allocated test kits then we will need to continue with the current visiting arrangements in place at your particular home.

We do hope the new tests are rolled out quickly and we are told that many homes should have them prior to Xmas however as we are not aware of when they are dispatched and where to, then all we can do is wait and let you know as soon as your service receives their allocation. Only then can we facilitate the new visiting arrangements which these tests are designed to enable.

Thank you for your continued patience. You have been incredibly supportive of our care home teams so far and we hope you do not have long to wait before you can see your loved ones in a way that we all have been longing for since the start of the pandemic.

Thank you again.

Mike Smith Chief Operating Officer