Close relatives will be able to say goodbye to their loved ones as they die from coronavirus, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said yesterday afternoon.
He said that wanting to be with a friend or relative at the end of life was ‘one of the deepest human instincts.’
Mr Hancock added that ‘wherever possible’ people will be given the ‘chance to say goodbye’ to loved ones dying with Covid-19, after reports of the elderly dying alone in care homes and some hospitals banning all visitors.
He said that as a father himself he was moved to tears after reports of 13-year-old Ismail Mohamed Abdulwahab, from Brixton, south London, dying without a parent at his bedside.
Matt Hancock said he cried after hearing reports of 13-year-old Ismail Mohamed Abdulwahab, from Brixton, south London, dying without a parent at his bedside. Pictured: The funeral for the 13-year-old at Eternal Gardens Muslim Burial Ground
It comes as a family spoke of their devastation after former professional footballer Cyril Lawrence, 99, passed away after going into a care home and contracting the deadly disease.
Many loved ones have been unable to say goodbye to loved ones in person since the lockdown started in late March, with Mr Lawrence’s family saying their goodbyes by video call on an iPad provided by caring nurses.
Mr Hancock said the new guidelines, drawn up with Public Health England, the care sector and others would ‘limit the risk of infection and give people the chance to say goodbye.
The announcement by the Health Secretary was scant on detail in terms of the practicalities of how his measures would be implemented.
Guidance released to care homes on April 2 says that people can already visit dying friends and relatives.
It states that:’family and friends should be advised not to visit care homes, except next of kin in exceptional situations such as end of life.’
Cyril pictured with his wife Clara. Mr Lawrence, a former professional footballer, contracted the disease in a care home
And guidance released to hospital’s on March 30 about palliative care suggests that visitors can attend if they are wearing PPE.
Further visitor guidance issued on April 8 suspended visits with immediate effect with some exceptional circumstances. One of them is if the patient you want to visit is ‘receiving end of life care.’
But many care homes and some hospitals have blocked visitors because they are concerned about the spread of the infection and the well-being of their staff who are daily putting themselves in harms way.
There have been multiple reports of PPE shortages in care homes and hospitals, and questions over how effectively those resources have been allocated by the government.
In the briefing this afternoon Mr Hancock also said a supply network of ‘unprecedented scale’ would also help get PPE to care home staff, and a ‘single brand’ with a badge for care workers, which he said may help them access similar perks to NHS staff.
But Rehana Azam, national officer of the GMB union, said care workers need more than a ‘pat on the head’ from the Health Secretary, and workers need sufficient PPE.
Matt Hancock said today that wanting to be with a friend or relative at the end was ‘one of the deepest human instincts.’
She said: ‘Our care workers need more than a badge and a pat on their head to define their precious role in society.
‘They need the protective equipment and testing on the front line now to protect their lives.’
‘There is nothing stopping relatives saying goodbye in care homes now as long as they have sufficient PPE.
‘So this goes back to the problem of there not being sufficient PPE for the staff, never mind families,’ said a spokesman for MHA, one of the largest charitable providers of care homes.’
In the press briefing Mr Hancock also said it was unacceptable for advanced care plans – including do not resuscitate orders – to be applied in a blanket fashion to any group of people.
‘This must always be a personalised process, as it always has been,’ he said.
The Cabinet minister denied suggestions the lives of younger people had been prioritised at the expense of those in care homes and that people had died unnecessarily.
However, England’s deputy chief scientific adviser Dame Angela McLean said there was a ‘huge question’ about how to protect care homes which do not yet have cases.
It comes as it emerged a pregnant nurse has died at Luton and Dunstable University Hospital after testing positive for coronavirus.
Mary Agyeiwaa Agyapong, who worked as a nurse on a general ward at the hospital, died on Sunday.
The baby was successfully delivered and is doing well, according to the hospital.
In a further hint that lockdown measures would be extended on Thursday, Mr Hancock told reporters the ‘hard work’ and sacrifices of the public must not be let go of now.
‘This shared sacrifice – and I know it’s a sacrifice – is starting to work but we will not lift these measures until it is safe to do so,’ he said.
Mary Agyeiwaa Agyapong, 28, (pictured) died on Sunday after undergoing an emergency caesarean to deliver and save her baby daughter
England’s chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty said the death toll may rise later this week but he believes the UK is ‘probably’ reaching the peak of the outbreak.
He said: ‘At the moment, we are not yet at the point where we can say confidently and safely this is now past the peak and we can start thinking very much about the next phases.’
Asked why the Government has not been forthcoming in explaining its exit strategy, unlike other countries, Mr Hancock said: ‘Different countries are in different stages in this epidemic, and one of the things that I think we have learnt during this crisis is that the clarity of the guidance to the public is incredibly important and hence we repeat it.’
Challenged about the missed 25,000 daily testing target, Mr Hancock said the Government had ‘hit each of the goals we have set’.
He claimed a target of 25,000 tests a day was originally set for the end of April, although the Department of Health had initially said it was due within four weeks from March 18.
Mr Hancock said: ‘We committed to 10,000 tests by the end of March, which we hit, then we had previously committed to 25,000 by the end of April – I increased that goal to 100,000.
‘We have hit each of the goals that we have set on testing and we have had the capacity continuing to ramp up this month, the demand has been lower over the Easter weekend as staff haven’t wanted to come forward for testing, which is understandable during a long weekend.’
In other developments, Downing Street admitted PPE may have to be reused if it is established it is safe to do so.
Comments gathered by the British Medical Association (BMA) and shared with the PA news agency show how, as recently as Monday, medics were still being forced to work without adequate PPE, with some turning to bin liners and washing their visors in disinfectant.
Latest figures show that 12,868 patients have died in hospital after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK as of 5pm on Tuesday, up by 761 from 12,107 the day before.