The England guidance states that care homes need to ensure that dynamic risk assessments consider “a balance of the benefits to the residents, against the risk of visitors introducing infection into the care home, or spreading infection from the care home to the community”. Scotland & Wales have different guidance but yes, it would be really interesting to know the position across England with regards to what care homes are doing in relation to visiting restrictions to ascertain which restrictions are necessary for that particular care home and which restrictions have been put in place by care homes without a proportionate balancing of risk.
There's an on-line petition referring to the government restricting visits to only 30 mins in the garden, and not allowing indoor visits, but these are individual care home decisions, not ‘blanket’ restrictions that are included within government guidance. There are lots of different factors that need to be taken into account within the risk assessment, and I think that you’re right, the layout of the building is relevant in considering effective infection control measures.
Mum’s care home is probably 10/12 years old but seems to have been designed with a view to infection control. Access to the garden and two downstairs lounges can be made without entering inside the home, the reception area can be ‘sealed off’, there are two sets of lifts to the upper floors minimising visitor contact with staff/residents, and different units on the same floor are separated by security doors meaning that there is restricted access between groups of residents/visitors. We have been really fortunate in that both indoor and garden visits are currently being permitted for an hour at a time, subject to strict infection control measures. Staff are being tested weekly, residents are tested monthly, there are adequate supplies of PPE so that visitors can wear the same level of PPE as staff, and visitor’s temperatures are checked on arrival. Only one person at a time can visit a resident, maintaining social distancing, but there is no restriction in relation to this having to be the same person each time. The manager has said that he has considered both effective infection control measures and the residents wellbeing and is comfortable with the measures that are currently in place. It’s good that you have managed to challenge the restrictions in place at your mum’s home, taking into account the layout of the building, and that someone has (finally) listened.