Care home residents are to have the legal right to have visitors under legislation planned by the government it has been reported.

A report in The Times said the legislation was being planned for both care home residents and hospital patients.

Minister of state for care, Helen Whately, said: “The darkest days of the pandemic are thankfully behind us but I’m still hearing from families being stopped from visiting loved ones.

“I know how it feels. I didn’t know if I would see my mum alive again when she was very ill in hospital in the summer. I remember well the feelings I had at the time – grief mixed with frustration and even anger at a system that seemed to lack humanity.

“People should not have to make the sacrifices we made in the pandemic forever. I understand care homes and hospitals being cautious after what they have been through, along with public health teams. But the vast majority of places are now allowing visits. Those who aren’t can follow their example on how it can and should be done.

“No one can be in any doubt now how much visits matter and sometimes there’s little time left. As minister for care, I’m determined to fix this.”

Helen Wildbore, director of the Relatives & Residents Association, told Caring Times: “Over two and half years of visiting restrictions in care settings has shown the pain and damage caused by separating residents from the most important people in their lives. Access to a ‘care supporter’ must become a routine, key ingredient for dignified care across all health and care settings.

“Recognising in law the vital support of family carers will also help care providers, reinforcing good practice and providing a tool to push back with confidence against external barriers such as those from public health teams. It will also help to weed out poor practice and bring standards up across the board, which will be good for the whole sector.”

Nadra Ahmed, chair of the National Care Association and chair of The Care Provider Alliance, told us: “If government is to going to move towards this, they must indemnify the sector in the way they did with the NHS by making sure that there are insurance products out there that are affordable for providers.”