Relatives grieving the death of loved ones from Covid-19 have warned families against reuniting for Christmas even if the Government allows it. Health Secretary Matt Hancock suggested on Friday that families would be able to spend ‘that cherished Christmas with your family as much as possible’, but added that social distancing would still be required … Read more
Seven in ten people with a close relative in a care home have been unable to see them since March, shocking new figures reveal. Hundreds of thousands of family members have undergone ‘eight torturous months’, banned from visiting their loved ones. Others have been invited to care homes for an ‘end-of-life’ visit – only to … Read more
ESTHER RANTZEN: Reopen care homes for Christmas – for the sake of the residents and their loved ones Sarah uses the same word over and over to describe the visits she makes to her husband’s care home: ‘Heartbreaking.’ Rigid rules have torn her apart from her beloved Philip, the husband she adores. Nearly 90 years … Read more
Matt Hancock last night offered families hope on care home testing – but was told by campaigners to move much faster. The Health Secretary has vowed to ring-fence a supply of coronavirus swabs for family visitors in the run-up to Christmas. And he said a pilot scheme at 20 sites would end the need for ‘prison-style’ … Read more
When a blanket ban on care home visits was imposed in March as the coronavirus pandemic took hold of the country, elderly residents were dealt the shock of loved-ones suddenly vanishing from their lives. Eight months on, they are still forbidden from holding hands with their husbands and wives or hugging their sons and daughters. … Read more
A doctor has asked a grieving family if they could confirm the death over video link amid the coronavirus pandemic. Gillian Orman, from Southampton, rang the NHS after her mother Kathleen Bricknell, 86, died. A doctor said everyone in the house – including her deceased mother – would have to wear a mask during an … Read more
The Health Minister Helen Whately said a trial will launched ‘shortly’ to see if the strategy would work. It would see relatives tested regularly and wearing PPE to see their loved ones in care homes.
Unpaid carers spent an extra 92 MILLION hours looking after relatives with dementia since coronavirus lockdown, new figures show The Alzheimer’s Society found families forced to increase their care since March This is partly because paid caring services contracted during the pandemic It estimates that women carried out 62million of these 92million extra hours By … Read more
Declan Donnelly’s long-lost American cousins have expressed ‘heartbreak’, as he suggested they ‘wanted nothing to do with [him]’ after meeting on a DNA TV show. The TV personality, 44, was seen meeting more than a dozen US-based relatives he’d never before heard of during his appearance on ITV’s DNA Journey in November. And while the … Read more
Loved ones of the 22 people murdered at the Manchester Arena bombing have stood in silent remembrance at the opening of the public inquiry into the terror attack. The sombre start to proceedings began with Paul Greaney QC, counsel to the inquiry, reading the names of each of those murdered by suicide bomber Salman Abedi … Read more