Recommendation 1

Since the start of the pandemic, official guidance on care home visiting has prioritised the Government’s obligation to protect residents’ right to life (Article 2 ECHR), even where this has severely impacted on the right to respect for private and family life (Article 8 ECHR). While this may have been understandable in the short term, it is unacceptable to place draconian restrictions on the right to family life of those in residential care and their families for over a year. Of course the Government should seek to protect residents in care homes, but it also has an obligation to uphold their right to family life and ensure that it is facilitated in practice.