Care home isolation, Unwanted Gadgets, Prescription Charges

Available for over a year

We report on how care homes are bringing back restrictions on visiting because of the Omicron variant. Some MPs, campaigners and relatives are questioning the approach because the number of deaths in care homes now from Covid are small due to vaccination. They say visiting bans pose a threat to residents' health and may even cause more deaths than the virus. We hear from some of our listeners about their experiences of visiting their relatives since the Omicron outbreak. We also speak to Dr Caroline Green from the National Institute of Health Research at Kings College, London. She's been researching the effects of loneliness and isolation caused by the pandemic. Over Christmas shoppers in the UK bought nearly 40 million electrical gifts and got rid of more than four million old items as a result. That’s according to research from the campaign group Recycle your Electricals. We are estimated to be hoarding more than 500 million old electricals between us. Some of them we could sell, bringing in an estimated £620 per household. We speak to Scott Butler, the Executive Director of Material Focus and Harry Wallop, the consumer affairs journalist. The Government is considering proposals to make people in England keep paying for their prescriptions until they reach state retirement age - 66. At the moment, prescriptions are free for everyone over the age of 60. A possible rule change this April could see millions of people in England charged for prescriptions they currently get for free. We speak to Thorrun Govind from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and Professor Len Shackleton from the Institute of Economic Affairs. Presenter: Winifred Robinson Producer: Tara Holmes