Mother and daughter reunited in emotional moment at Northampton care home after a year apart

A mother and daughter were reunited in time for Mother’s Day at a Northampton care home after nearly a year apart.

Before the pandemic hit, Fiona Ransteadused to visit her mum, Eleanor Gullen, every Saturday at Collingtree Park Care Home, in Windingbrook Lane.

Due to restrictions and safety measures, the weekly visits were off the cards and the mother and daughter had not been able to see each other properly before the pandemic.

Until last week, when Fiona was allowed into her 96-year-old mother’s bedroom in full PPE, following a negative Lateral Flow Device test result, to finally hold her hand.

Fiona said: “I am grateful the home has helped me keep in touch with Mum over the past year through visits in the home’s Covid-safe visiting pod, and by Skype calls, but it was not the same as being in the same room and holding hands today.

“It was wonderful.”

Care staff helped Eleanor get ready for her special visit by curling her hair and painting her nails.

Staff say the resident had a ‘beaming smile’ and was ‘over the moon’ to be able to hold her daughter’s hand.

General manager, Natalie Norman, added: “We are delighted we can welcome family members for indoor visits again.

“This is the first cautious step towards having the buzz of visitors in our home again and it was wonderful to see Fiona’s reunion with her mother.

“She used to visit every Saturday before the pandemic, to read to Eleanor and do crafts with some of the other residents, too.

“We hope we can get back to that again soon.

“The whole team found Fiona and Eleanor’s visit emotional.”

All residents at Collingtree Park Care Home are now allowed a single, named person who may visit each resident in their bedroom, after Government guidance changed at the beginning of this month.

There are infection control measures and social distancing in place for every visit, plus PPE and the requirement of a negative test.

For those unable to enter the care home, outside and Covid pod visiting remains in place.

Natalie continued: “We have a booking system to ensure all family visits are well organised, and we really appreciate that all our visitors so far have followed our safety measures, to keep residents, staff and visitors as safe as possible.

“For people who are not able to come inside the home we are pleased to continue visits in our Covid-safe visiting suite or in our lovely gardens when the weather is fine.

“We also support residents with video calls as another way to maintain relationships with loved ones.”

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