THE Director of Care at a Waterford city nursing home says they have "waited a long time" for today when finally, nursing home residents can have indoor visits again.
Laura Sheridan from Maypark House Nursing Home says it's been a very hard few months for residents and there is a "lovely atmosphere" today with visits about to restart.
Residents at nursing homes and long-term care facilities will be allowed two visits per week from today.
The visits will be allowed on general compassionate grounds, provided there is a high level of vaccination in the facility.
There will be no requirement to limit each visit to less than one hour.
At Maypark House Nursing Home (located on Maypark Lane in the city), there was a Covid outbreak in January but Laura Sheridan says they have come out the other side of that now and all are doing well.
She said everyone was happy that indoor visits are resuming.
"We have waiting a long time for this and it's been a very hard few months," she told Damien Tiernan on Deise Today.
"We kept things going with window visits and video calls but it's just not the same."
She said these type of visits will continue along with indoor visits as these, for the moment, will be limited to close family members.
She said the residents have shown great resilience this past while and their families have also been "incredibly supportive".
HUGELY POSITIVE
Meanwhile, Nursing Homes Ireland today welcomed the return to indoor visiting for the country's 30,000 nursing home residents and their families.
“It’s hugely positive news and very welcome,” chief executive Tadhg Daly said.
“I suppose it’s the effect of the vaccination now at this stage, it's really bearing fruit.”
However, Mr Daly said caution was still needed: “We need to be... cautious as well, given the high numbers [of Covid-19] still in the community.”
Sage Advocacy, a support and advocacy service for older people, said visiting arrangements had been a key issue for residents since last March when Covid-19 was first reported in nursing homes.
Since then, residents have had limited or often no contact at all with their loved ones.
The new visitation rules are a very welcome first step, the group said, as it urged nursing homes to respect and comply with the guidance.
You can listen back to Laura Sheridan on this morning's Deise Today by clicking below here...
You can listen back to the full Deise Today programme from this morning, meanwhile, by clicking the links below here...
