Great-grandmother, 78, faces being EVICTED from her care home today over ‘unauthorised’ visit

Great-grandmother, 78, faces being EVICTED from her care home after having an ‘unauthorised’ visit through a patio door with her police officer daughter

  • Elizabeth Bow, who has dementia, must leave Aspen Hill Village in Leeds today 
  • Daughter claims home objected to her speaking to mother through open door 
  • She said: ‘My mum is being evicted because I love her and want to see her’

Elizabeth Bow, 78, who has dementia, must leave Aspen Hill Village in Leeds after bosses accused her daughter, Denise Hobbs, of not adhering to its ‘visiting policy’

A great-grandmother faces being evicted from her care home after having an ‘unauthorised’ visit through a patio door with her police officer daughter. 

Elizabeth Bow, 78, who has dementia, must leave Aspen Hill Village in Leeds after bosses accused her daughter, Denise Hobbs, of not adhering to its ‘visiting policy’. 

It is the latest heartbreaking example of the impact of rules restricting how families can visit their loved ones in care homes, which today prompted the Government to vow to reunite families by Christmas. 

Ms Hobbs said she was ‘anxious and upset’ and told the Daily Express: ‘My mum is being evicted because I love her and want to see her.

The 53-year-old claims the home objected to her speaking to her mother through an open patio door. 

She also accused the care home of a ‘revenge eviction over comments she posted on Facebook’ – but its manager strongly denied this. 

Ms Bow is a great-grandmother of 12 who worked as a nurse in her native Scotland and later as a carer in Scarborough. 

She moved to Aspen Hill on April 29, when the care home gave her a room with a patio window to allow visits. 

Ms Hobbs or her siblings would visit daily – with a carer opening the window to allow them to chat. 

But on October 4 she made an unsolicited visit after seeing the window was open and walking over. This led to her being told she was not allowed to be there. 

Aspen Hill Village director Dr Shahz Ahmed said: We operate an open door policy and the manager welcomes all residents and their families to raise concerns directly. 

‘Unfortunately, our continued reasonable requests to adhere to our visiting policy…has led to an irreconcilable breakdown in our relationship with Mrs Bow’s family.’

He said he ‘categorically refuted’ any claims it was a revenge eviction. 

Director of Aspen Hill Village (pictured) Dr Shahz Ahmed said: We operate an open door policy and the manager welcomes all residents and their families to raise concerns directly'

Director of Aspen Hill Village (pictured) Dr Shahz Ahmed said: We operate an open door policy and the manager welcomes all residents and their families to raise concerns directly’

Care homes will finally be able to allow in-person visits over Christmas by testing relatives for Covid-19, Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced today.

The Government is piloting rapid testing in 20 care homes in low-infection areas in Hampshire, Devon and Cornwall to see if it is safe to let family members visit vulnerable residents indoors.

Mr Hancock said, if effective, he plans to expand the programme across England within weeks. In a round of interviews this morning, the Health Secretary said: ‘I hope to have that in place for all care homes by Christmas.’

The move would finally allow families to visit loved ones in the flesh without the need for ‘prison-like’ windows for the first time in eight months.

Under current rules, relatives can often only see loved ones through plastic screens. A small number of care homes had been allowing garden or drive-through visits. 

The pilot will aim to assess whether indoor visits must still be socially distanced or whether relatives will be able to hug for the first time in months.

The trial schemes will use both standard PCR tests or new lateral flow tests, which give results within minutes but miss between half and 25 per cent of cases.

Relatives and campaign groups have warned for months that the current rules have taken a catastrophic toll on the wellbeing of vulnerable residents.

There have been numerous reports of elderly people in care homes rapidly deteriorating both mentally and physically as a result of being isolated since March.