en days ago, in response to a letter from seven dementia charities and organisations, the health secretary, Matt Hancock, announced that the ban on visits to care homes was “coming to an end very soon”. That brought a huge sense of relief to the thousands of family carers who have been unable to see their relatives for almost four months. But since then: nothing. Was it an empty promise, a disgraceful piece of window dressing? Perhaps the health secretary could tell us what “very soon” means; how many days are there in “a few days”? The letter was sent by John’s Campaign, the Alzheimer’s Society, Alzheimer’s Research UK, Dementia UK, Young Dementia UK, Innovations in Dementia and Tide and called for the government to grant family and friend carers the same status as a “key worker” care home member of staff, allowing them the same access to care homes with the same provision of testing so they can meet the essential needs of residents. Family carers are essential, providing practical support and keeping the person who lives with dementia connected to the world. The spike in excess deaths in care homes is not just caused by the virus; there has been a significant rise, 52%, in non-coronavirus-related deaths for people with dementia. To keep family carers out of homes is a violation of human rights and it is cruel to the person with dementia and to their family. With each day that goes by, it becomes more harmful and more cruel. We have heard many heart-wrenching stories from family carers: about the rapid deterioration of the person with dementia; about spouses and sons and daughters who are only allowed in to be with a resident at the very point of death ( a death they might not have reached so soon if they had been allowed to see those they loved); about guilt, anger, despair. These are stories of suffering. They need to be heard. How is it possible we are allowing this to happen? We thought, when Hancock made his announcement, that some of this anguish and deprivation would be over. Every day counts: so tell us, health secretary, how soon is “very soon” and how many more of your “next few days” do we have to wait until the isolation of those in care homes is ended?