IT WAS an emotional moment for residents at one Basingstoke care home this week who were reunited with their loved ones indoors for the first time since the pandemic began.

The long-awaited reunion was particularly special for Ashcombe House resident Win Sol, who met with her son Dr Steven Havers to celebrate her 99th birthday.

Care home residents have been allowed to see one named person indoors from March 8 as lockdown restrictions begin to ease across the country.

Win, a resident at the Worting Road home, run by Barchester Healthcare, said: “The staff here have been so wonderful supporting me to use video calls and creating the visiting suite so I could keep in touch with my family, but nothing beats seeing my son in the comfort of my bedroom.

"This was a special moment, and I was over the moon which was made even more special as it was my birthday.”

Barchester said it is proceeding with a “safe and cautious approach to visiting” with strict protocols in place requiring all visitors to have a negative lateral flow device test prior to visiting and social distancing in place.

Hand holding is allowed but not recommended.

Louise Lambert, general manager at the home, said: “This is the first cautious step towards having a buzz of visitors in the home again. It was wonderful to see how happy it made the residents and their relatives.

“We have a great booking system in place to ensure the visits are well organised, and visitors are doing a great job of following the safety measures to keep everyone as safe as possible.

“For those that are not able to come inside the home we are pleased to be able to continue to offer visits in our visiting suites or outdoors when the weather allows.”