MORE than one million people in Scotland have now had their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine and nearly all residents in our care homes have been vaccinated.

This is a tremendous achievement, and we should all applaud our Health Secretary Jeane Freeman and all the NHS and care staff who are working so hard to get the vaccines into people’s arms quickly.

But while there is cause to celebrate, many older people are still suffering the terrible effects of isolation from their loved ones. The problem is particularly acute for older people in care homes who have been unable to have in person visits.

On Wednesday it was reported that coronavirus cases in care homes have more than halved and deaths have dropped by 30% in the space of a week. National Clinical Director Jason Leitch warned that it’s too soon to draw conclusions from these statistics but that they do offer hope that the vaccine is taking effect in care homes.

Donald MacAskill, CEO of Scottish Care, echoed this cautious optimism and pointed out: “We are not noticing a similar reduction in England who started vaccinating in care homes at a later date.”

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At the same time, on Wednesday, the Scottish Parliament Public Petitions Committee discussed a petition calling for one designated visitor/family carer to be granted care home visits.

The petition was set up by my constituent, Natasha Hamilton, who is a member of the Care Home Relatives Scotland voluntary group. She set up the petition because her mum is in a care home with dementia. It is well documented that those with dementia can suffer greater decline when they don’t have loved ones around them to provide stimulation and interaction. Natasha would like one nominated family member per resident to be allowed to visit safely using personal protective equipment in the same way that staff, including agency staff, have access.

But the matter is fraught with difficulty and there is no easy fix. The last thing either the UK or Scottish government wants is to allow visits to recommence and then to be blamed for a spike in infections and deaths in care homes.

However, it helps to look at this through a human rights lens. While the rights of some groups seem top of the agenda, we must ensure that others are not overlooked. Equality is for all. Age is a protected characteristic. As Robert Burns might have said – the rights of older people merit some attention.

Last month, the Westminster Joint Committee on Human Rights, of which I am deputy chair, took harrowing evidence from relatives of those in care who have been unable to visit their loved ones south of the Border. We did this as part of our inquiry into the impact of the Covid crisis on human rights.

Article 8 of the European Convention on Human (ECHR) rights protects the right to a family life and there is no doubt that long lockdowns have interfered with that right for those in care home settings and their families. We believe that blanket bans are in breach of this legal right to family life.

However, governments are also under a duty to protect the right to life under Article 2 of the ECHR. In order to do so, some interference with the right to family life is justified but it must be proportionate and only made on the basis of looking at individual circumstances and making an assessment. That assessment should consider the risks to the person in care’s emotional wellbeing and mental health of not having visits. The evidence we have heard suggests that in some instances this is not happening consistently in England.

In order to try to address this dilemma the committee has drafted legislation which would require care homes to allow visits by a “person significant to the service user” – a friend or loved one. This mirrors a new law in Ontario in Canada where a close relative is regarded as part of the care team for the purpose of visits and tests.

These designated caregivers may access the care home, provided they test negative before each visit. This acknowledges that it takes a team to care for someone: dedicated staff in the home or hospital and a loving family visiting.

The suggestions put forward by the committee seeks to achieve a similar outcome. It would require individual risk assessments to be undertaken to facilitate face-to-face contact, where possible, with family and friends whose support is significant to a resident in a care home or hospital setting. Where the risks posed by face-to-face contact were too great, the legislation would require that careful thought be given to alternatives to meet residents’ needs, including their emotional and psychological needs.

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LEGISLATION like this would not replace government guidance but rather it would provide a human rights underpinning against which such guidance could be judged.

These are only proposals from a cross-party committee and there is absolutely no indication that the UK Government will take them on board. Indeed, I suspect they won’t. Unlike the Scottish Government, expanding human rights protections is not exactly top of the UK Government’s agenda.

Also, to be fair to both governments, I know from my own discussions with Jeane Freeman about the position in Scotland that the matter is not at all straightforward and the introduction of such legislation is fraught with difficulty. But I am pleased to say I also know that the matter is under active and anxious consideration in Scotland.

Holyrood’s petitions committee have resolved to keep the petition open and to write to Jeane Freeman and Jason Leitch to emphasise the need for urgency in responding to campaigners. And it was good to hear the First Minister say at FMQs that new guidance on family member visits to care homes will be published imminently.

So often the rights of older people are overlooked. It is time they were put front and centre in our society.