'She deserves better than this' distraught daughter unable to see mother
7 September 2020, 15:07 | Updated: 7 September 2020, 15:08
"She deservers more than this" caller breaks down over care home mum
'There is no logic to carers being able to touch your mother and you not' one callers heartbreaking tale of her mother's experience in a care home.
Sharon called in to speak to Shelagh Fogart about her mother who is in a care home but was having difficulty visiting her.
Labour's Shadow Social Care Minister, Liz Kendall, urged the Government to introduce more testing and protective equipment, while a charity that represents care residents and their families called for a wider re-evaluation of visiting rules to take into account the impact of separation from loved ones.
Under the guidance issued by the regulatory body, the Care Quality Commission, family members should receive detailed guidance from care homes explaining why restrictions are in place.
When Shelagh pointed this out to Sharon she told LBC that "we have the odd email" but that the home was hoping to find any inside area allowing her to have contact with her mother.
"But what about contact?" Shelagh asked and the caller said she just didn't know.
"I asked one of the carers the other day and they did they didn't know or hadn't been told," the caller told LBC.
It comes as Opposition MPs and charities have called on the Government to take urgent action to help care homes in England receive more visitors, amid widespread warnings that isolation because of coronavirus is causing many residents to deteriorate rapidly.
'Why have pubs been allowed to reopen, yet I cannot see my mother?'
More than 16,000 people have died from Covid-19 in UK care homes, which were locked down for months to try to limit further infection. Under rules in England updated in July, a single relative can make brief visits, often for around 30 minutes once a week, and outside where possible.
Shelagh said the response from the carer showed there was a great deal of confusion in the system between who was responsible, "no one's in charge," she said.
"Every single person working in that care home should know what the policy is," Shelagh said.
Breaking down the caller said she felt like "we've lost her, we've lost her already and it feels like we've lost her again."
"She deserves more than this however long she's got."
Shelagh urged the caller to "keep pushing," pointing out there was "no logic to those carers touching your mother and you not."
Movingly Sharon told LBC she felt like she was "interfering and it's a horrible feeling."
Shelagh reassured her that she wasn't and that "it's your mother's home, and you and she are paying for it, it's not their home, it's her home."
Watch the whole moving call in the video at the top of the page.
