Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 09 March 2022
I will quote the First Minister in a minute, so the cabinet secretary might want to listen.
Almost one year on from the Scottish Parliament elections, when the Scottish National Party vowed to deliver Anne’s law for care home residents, the position is largely unchanged from what I have just described. As of 14 February, 92.3 per cent of care home residents in Scotland had received three doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, making the continuing restrictions hard to justify. There is no vaccine for loneliness and isolation.
Time and again, the Scottish Government has implemented restrictions and regulations but has not acted with the same speed when the restrictions are no longer required, despite knowing that being separated from loved ones causes harm to people in care homes.
The First Minister has correctly stated that lateral flow tests are 99 per cent accurate. We should trust and use the science. Staff undertake 12-hour shifts based on a negative lateral flow test, so why can relatives not visit on that basis? They do not interact with large numbers of residents, as staff do, and they do not work across the care home, so there is little risk of widespread transmission.
The change would be easy to deliver. Relatives need to be recognised as care givers. They are as important, if not more so, to the wellbeing of the person in the home. Let us make use of lateral flow tests to open up access. Let us trust the science that the First Minister referenced.
Scottish Labour has been forced to bring the debate to the chamber in order to demand answers and action. For those at the end of their lives, every day counts. [Interruption.] The cabinet secretary would do well to listen. The Scottish National Party and Green coalition cannot continue to drag its heels on strengthening residents’ rights. The Government has the power to make the change now. Its own records show that updated restrictions have left 21 per cent of care homes likely to be operating under severe restrictions, yet Anne’s law is discussed only when prompted by other MSPs.
This is a matter of basic human rights. There is an opportunity to do the right thing for care home residents, who have been let down so often over the past two years. It cannot be right that life goes on for the majority while others continue to suffer. All parties support early legislation, and I urge the Minister for Mental Wellbeing and Social Care to give a clear timetable for bringing such legislation to Parliament so that care home residents can enjoy the same freedoms as the rest of us enjoy.
The two-year anniversary of the start of the pandemic, as it approaches, will cause us all to reflect. We will be reminded to appreciate small freedoms, such as a cup of tea with family or lunch with friends. Let us not forget that, for some, those small freedoms are still out of reach. The Scottish Government must act, and it must act now.
I move,
That the Parliament understands that maintaining good social connections are crucial for the wellbeing and quality of life for residents in adult care homes; acknowledges that care homes have been unduly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and thousands of residents have been repeatedly separated from their loved ones due to restrictions; regrets that the Scottish Government has not yet brought forward legislation to strengthen the rights of residents and their families so that relatives are recognised as care givers and residents have the right to see and spend time with the people who are important to them, and calls on the Scottish Government to urgently introduce legislation to implement Anne’s Law so no one has to again experience what Anne Duke and her family, alongside many other families, had to go through.