Mask-wearing has been a fact of life in healthcare settings since the Covid-19 pandemic began, but new NHS guidance has seen the rules changed in some of the North East's hospitals.
Now, after a letter from top NHS figures laid out "next steps on infection prevention and control", health authorities have been told that mask-wearing need only be required in certain situations. According to the letter - signed by NHS England medical director Professor Stephen Powis and England's deputy chief nursing officer Duncan Burton - these situations include in "Covid-19/respiratory care pathways" and where hospital patients are "at high risk of infection" because, for example, they may be immunosuppressed.
New measures have been so far implemented at the Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust which runs the Freeman and RVI, and at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead and other locations managed by the Gateshead Health NHS Trust. At this stage, Northumbria Healthcare - the NHS trust which runs hospitals throughout North Tyneside and Northumberland - said its rules on mask-wearing were "under review".
The guidance from the NHS centrally does make it clear that changes in the rules should be subject to "local risk assessment" - so it remains essential that people follow instructions given at each hospital they attend.
However, for the moment South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Trust is still requiring mask-wearing for staff, patients and visitors. The latest details shared by the County Durham and Darlington NHS Trust also says it is reviewing the new guidance, but measures have not yet been changed.
The NHS England guidance - applied in Newcastle and Gateshead - highlights that NHS staff should still wear masks when dealing with Covid patients, suspected Covid patients and those with respiratory symptoms such as coughs. They should also be worn in "settings where untriaged patients may present such as emergency departments or primary care, depending on local risk assessment".
The letter also states: "Universal masking should be applied when there is known or suspected cluster transmission of SARS-CoV-2." NHS bodies are also told to be wary of the emergence of new variants of concern. And, while masks "should also be considered" where patients are at high risk of infection, NHS England now says staff can now choose whether or not to wear masks based on "personal preference" in non-clinical areas like admin offices.
For patients, the picture is similar. Inpatients with Covid-19 or suspected Covid-19 should be given facemasks. "This should be worn in multi-bedded bays and communal areas, eg waiting areas for diagnostics, if this can be tolerated and is deemed safe for the patient," say NHS England. However masks "are not usually required in single rooms", unless there are visitors.
Other hospital inpatients are "not necessarily required to wear a facemask", though again the NHS bosses say high-risk areas like oncology may still require masking. For outpatients, primary care and A&E, the guidance adds: "Patients with respiratory symptoms who are required to attend for emergency treatment should wear a facemask/covering, if tolerated."
But for everyone else, including visitors, this should not be required, say Prof Powis and Mr Taylor, "unless this is a personal preference".
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