Kin of UK dementia patients want more visits

The families of dementia patients are demanding that the British government ease restrictions on visiting care homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying they prevent people from getting the love and attention they need at the end of life. “These are not visitors,” she said. You can't restrict people's right to family life.”

The families of dementia patients are demanding that the British government ease restrictions on visiting care homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying they prevent people from getting the love and attention they need at the end of life. Many care homes have curtailed visits during the pandemic, arguing that a lack of personal protection equipment and inadequate testing capacity have made it impossible to comply with government guidelines any other way.

But Julia Jones, co-founder of the dementia charity John's Campaign, told the BBC that family visits are an important part of caring for people in care homes and shouldn't be considered optional. “These are not visitors,” she said. “These are people's husbands, these are people's children who have been their children for 60 years. This is a human rights matter. You can't restrict people's right to family life.”