Coronavirus: Dementia patients ‘deteriorating’ without family visits
Relatives of care home residents with dementia should be treated as key workers, leading charities say.In a letter to the health secretary, they write that the care given by family members is "essential" to residents' mental and physical health.They argue the current limits on visitors have had "damaging consequences".They want visits to resume safely, with relatives given the same access to care homes and coronavirus testing as staff.Signed by the bosses of leading charities including Dementia UK and the Alzheimer's Society, the letter calls on the government to "urgently" address what it calls the "hidden catastrophe" happening in care homes.A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has told the BBC it will be setting out further d...
