To ask the Minister of Health, in relation to the Minister of State for Care stating that the UK Government intend to improve visitation rights and end blanket bans on contact of relatives of people with with learning disabilities in care, whether any assessment has been made regarding action to be taken in Northern Ireland.

Guidance around appropriate arrangements for visiting across a range of health and social care settings was developed and enhanced throughout the pandemic period. The current guidance, including the detail of the Care Partner scheme, is published on my Department’s website. The guidance is predicated on the principle that there should be no unreasonable restrictions placed on any patient or resident to prevent them from being able to receive visitors.

Work is being planned to complete a light touch review of the visiting guidance, to broaden its focus and remove the more Covid specific references that remain throughout it.

My Department remains committed to embedding the principles of person-centred visiting, co-production, and meaningful contact across all care settings. Officials will continue to work with families, providers, and partners to seek to maintain and strengthen the principles that made visiting guidance and Care Partner arrangements work well: flexibility, collaboration, compassion, and shared commitment to patients’ and residents’ wellbeing.