Temporary visitor pods set to be rolled-out at Welsh care homes to reunite residents with families for Christmas

Temporary ‘pods’ are being provided to care homes across Wales to better facilitate visits over Christmas and the winter months, the Health Minister has announced today.

The £3 million pilot will cover the procurement, installation and lease of 100 units, with an initial 30 being installed and ready to use before Christmas.

The semi-permanent units will be available for a period of 6 months, whilst longer-term solutions are sourced and put in place.

This also includes £1 million for plans to support providers who prefer to make their own arrangements on a similar basis.

Expanding capacity within care homes will help to better support risk-assessed visiting during the winter months as some care providers have found it difficult to support socially distanced visits due to a lack of internal visiting space.

Visiting restrictions for care homes were eased as wider lockdown restrictions were lifted in the summer, and again following the fire-break.

Since August, guidance has supported the reintroduction of indoor visits where possible with a designated indoor visitor.

Health Minister Vaughan Gething said: “We all know how difficult recent months have been for people living in care homes and their loved ones, however ensuring the safety of our most vulnerable has always been paramount.

“We recognise both the distress and sadness that has been experienced since March, but also the desire from care homes to facilitate visits before and during Christmas as well as throughout the winter.

“Having engaged with key stakeholders, we are confident these units are a way to enable meaningful visits to take place.

“The pilot scheme will help us to understand whether visiting pods are an effective and practical way of supporting meaningful visits.

“We will use this learning to determine whether we should consider commissioning a bespoke Wales-based solution in future if the course of the pandemic means this is required.”