RESIDENTS and staff at Lostock Lodge Care Home have been enjoying welcoming visitors back onto the premises.

Like all care homes across the country, residents have been in a state of lockdown from outside visitors during the height of the coronavirus pandemic to prevent coronavirus from spreading.

Now this has been lifted at the Lostock Gralam home, there have been many touching reunions as residents were able to see their loved ones for the first time in over four months.

And both visitors and staff say that it is lovely to see the impact having a visit from family members and friends has on those living in the home.

One relative commented: “We felt very lucky to be able to visit. Thank you to all staff for looking after the residents and making everything safe for them during these last few months.”

Home manager Allison Kennie said: “We are extremely pleased to be able to open our doors again, as families are as much a part of our home as our residents.

“It has been very emotional to see residents’ faces light up as they see family members after so long.

Northwich Guardian:

“We know how important it is for our residents to see loved ones and this is a real boost for everyone.”

Country Court, which runs the care home, had already put comprehensive guidelines in place for family visits before government guidelines were announced, with visitors asked to comply with stringent health and safety measures.

Each care home has put together comprehensive information for visitors to help them understand the new procedures and feel at ease when they visit.

All visitors will be required to wear a face masks for garden visits and full PPE for indoor visits, while every visitor is required to pass through a thermal imaging machine to check their temperature on arrival.

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Operations director Helen Richmond added: “All Country Court care and nursing homes remain Covid-19 free at this time, and all of the measures we have implemented for these visits are designed to keep it that way.

“This means that visits will be different from before, but we are sure that people will understand why.

“These visits have been able to happen because of the hard work of all our homes to keep residents safe, and it has been amazing to see how much it means to everyone.”