A WOMAN who has had to make six-hour round trips to her father’s care home for a half-an-hour visit will finally be able to enjoy longer stays.

Elle Griffiths lives in the Midlands for work while her father Graham Griffiths, who has advanced multiple sclerosis, is in residence at Highfield Hall Care Home, Haslingden.

Coronavirus restrictions adopted by many private care homes across the country have limited family members to short visits of around 30 minutes.

Miss Griffiths said: “I don’t go very often because it’s such a long trip, but I do understand that for more local people visiting for half-an-hour every weekend it’s a bit different.

“My dad is bed bound and paralysed but he’s all there mentally, so he knows what’s going on.

“I know that his mental health will improve for being able to see me more often,” she added.

“He’s miserable without the visits, as anyone would be.”

Lancashire Telegraph: Elle Griffiths and her father Graham

Elle Griffiths with her father Graham when he was in better health

After consulting with management at the home, Miss Griffiths, who is her father’s only family in the country, will now be allowed to visit her 72-year-old father for longer - accommodating her extraordinary circumstances.

“I think for other people in my position it’s important to just keep asking the question,” she said.

“Of course, you must appreciate that working in a care home during the pandemic is a really tough job and they’ve done amazingly.

“But the mental health of the residents, particularly as we start to unlock and things look a bit better, should be prioritised.

“There’s no logical reason as to why you can’t have longer visits or more frequents visits in replacement of the arbitrary rules in place at the minute.”

Miss Griffiths says that she is excited to be afforded more time with her father having not seen him properly - besides a half-hour visit in November - since Christmas 2019 and says, “it’ll make all the difference”.

She added: “It’ll be lovely to just have some food or something with him, it’s been such a long time and I’ve felt so bad for him.”

Mr Griffiths was passionate about a return to his favourite choir group before his condition worsened.

Friends from Salford have visited on occasions in the absence of family visiting.