The right of visit of the elderly in Ehpad can not be subject to "any restriction", said Friday the Minister of Solidarity Jean-Christophe Combe, "rectifying" in this sense a health protocol for the management of Covid-19 that had aroused the anger of family associations.
"No person welcomed in Ehpad will suffer from isolation because of a health protocol, no family will be denied access to their loved ones, I am personally committed to this," Combe said in a statement.
Sanitary protocol
The minister said he had "taken note of the very legitimate emotion of associations of the elderly and families" concerning a new version of the health protocol in nursing homes, published on March 10.
This protocol maintained "discriminatory instructions on the wearing of masks and visitation rights" and thus "infringed the fundamental freedoms to come and go which are nevertheless the norm in institutions and services for the elderly," said Tuesday the association Avec, which brings together elderly residents, families and directors of institutions.
"It was about time"
In its version dated March 10, the health protocol mentioned the possibility, for directors facing "grouped cases" of influenza or Covid, to impose "the cessation of visits (and) the suspension of outings" of residents. These "strict" measures, however, were to remain "exceptional", it was specified.
In its new version dated March 17 and circulated by the ministry, this sentence has been deleted. "The measures must be adequate, proportionate to the situation of the institution and limited in time," the text simply states.
"We can only welcome this clarification because we expected a firm and strong word from the minister," commented to AFP the president of the association With Patrick Couratin. "It was about time! But the protocol is still too vague, "responded for his part Claudette Brialix, the president of the Fnapaef, which brings together families of residents in Ehpad.
- Society
- Nursing home
- Covid 19
- epidemic