Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Angus man ‘wrongly’ barred from seeing mum, 91, who lives five miles away in Dundee care home

Ian Simpson outside Menzieshill House, where his mum is a resident
Ian Simpson outside Menzieshill House, where his mum is a resident

A desperate son may have been wrongly barred from visiting his lonely 91-year-old mum in a care home amid confusion over cross-border Covid rules.

Ian Simpson lives in Angus, just five miles from Winnie — a resident at Dundee’s council-run Menzieshill House care home.

Back-to-back visits have been cancelled at the last minute over fears they would breach the Scottish Government’s strict pandemic travel guidance between council areas.

This is despite Scotland’s national clinical director Jason Leitch appearing to suggest care home visits are exempt from the travel rule in a recent radio interview.

NHS Tayside has confirmed “essential visits” by loved ones should be permitted by care homes.

Ian, 54, described preventing his elderly mum from seeing her sons as “sick” and a possible breach of her human rights.

He said: “Does Covid-19 know the difference between Fowlis and Dundee?

“Is this really justified? I live in DD2, which is the same postcode as her. I can actually see Ninewells Hospital, where her home is, from my village.

“Under this reasoning, if I lived a few miles closer within Dundee, it would be fine for me to visit her.

“It’s bonkers. I think someone needs to be accountable for these kinds of decisions.”

Ian’s brother, who lives in Perth and Kinross, is also being prevented from visiting Winnie, meaning she will have no visitors until the rules are relaxed.

She is also hard-of-hearing so talking on the phone proves difficult.

The last time the pair visited her was two weeks ago in an outside setting prior to the new tier system being introduced on November 2.

Prof Leitch suggested such a visit should be permitted when speaking on BBC Radio Scotland’s Off the Ball programme on Saturday.

When asked to clarify whether someone can travel to another tier area to visit a parent in a care home, Mr Leitch said: “Absolutely they can, that’s one of the exemptions to tier travel restrictions.

“You can move for work, education, for a funeral for example, and for caring visits whether that’s in someone’s home or a care home or hospice.”

The official guidance on the Scottish Government’s website does not specifically list care home visits as an exemption.

However, it does state travel for “healthcare, social care, childcare and other essential services” is permitted.

Ian added his mother is struggling mentally with the situation.

“When I manage to get her on the phone, I can tell she is depressed. I worry she is slipping and I fear she could disappear at any moment.

“There will be thousands of families and residents across Scotland in the same situation.”

A spokesperson for NHS Tayside said: “We understand that not being able to visit loved ones is upsetting for families and residents and that is why our Public Health team is working closely with care homes across Tayside.

“Our public health team recognises that essential visits are incredibly important for people’s health and wellbeing and are following national guidance which states that essential visits are permitted and should be facilitated by care homes where possible.

“Examples of essential visits include to prevent or respond to residents’ health and wellbeing changing for the worse, to help with communication and/or distress, or allowing important time with loved ones who are approaching end of life.

“Where there is a positive case of Covid-19 identified in a care home, visiting will be suspended to protect residents.”

A Dundee Health and Social Care Partnership spokesperson said: “We are liaising with Public Health about this issue.”