Connecting with others is a fundamental right and essential to everyone’s health and wellbeing. Every adult and older person living in a care home has the right to connect with family, friends and community. They have the right to have visits and go out if they wish. Care homes should support this and should not put barriers or restrictions in place. 

Scotland’s Health and Social Care Standards set out what people should expect when using health, care or social work services. In 2022, two new Standards were introduced that cover the right to visit even when there is an outbreak of infectious disease. We have published guidance for care homes on how they must implement the new Standards. 

Legislation is being developed by Scottish Government that will enshrine visiting rights in law. For now, this is known as Anne’s Law. 

We have produced a poster which informs people about their rights and would encourage services to display this. 

People living in care homes must be supported to stay connected to loved ones and take part in their community if they wish. We advise care homes on good practice that supports people to stay connected with their loved ones, have visits and take part in their community. Where this support is not happening, we can use our powers to ensure it does. 

We expect care homes to support visiting by following the Scottish Government’s Open with Care guidance. 

More generally, our quality framework for care homes for adults and older people can be used by care home providers in conjunction with the self-evaluation guide and self-assessment tools to review and assess the quality of service they are delivering. Our meaningful connection self-evaluation tool has been designed to help providers evaluate how they are doing in terms of supporting meaningful connection for people experiencing care and identify any areas where they want to improve. 

We expect people who live in care homes to be able see their visitors at any time and without restriction. This includes outings from the home. 

Care homes should not operate booking systems or restrict when people can visit or go out. Visitors should not have to give notice, and visits and outings should not have a time limit.  

Standard infection control precautions should always be followed, and visitors should not enter a care home if they are potentially infectious with any illness. 

People living in care homes can still have visitors in an outbreak, but certain things might work differently. 

During an outbreak, any temporary changes to visiting arrangements should be made by the care home in consultation with the local health protection team and in line with current guidance.  Any restrictions on visits or outings must be proportionate and must be in place for the shortest possible period of time. The care home should ensure that information about any temporary restrictions, along with the expected duration of restrictions, is clearly communicated to all relevant people. 

The Care Inspectorate is here to support all care services to improve. For support and advice, contact your inspector who will be happy to explore issues and solutions with you. You can also contact the Meaningful Connection, Visiting and Anne’s Law project team directly at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..  

Local NHS health protection teams provide advice and support on infection prevention and control and managing outbreaks of infectious diseases.