GPs want legally mandated face masks in practices

Over 8 out of 10 (84%) of members of the Medical Protection Society thinks a face covering should be mandatory when attending any healthcare setting.

This was the finding of a survey including 562 of the GP indemnity providers' members, out of which 473 said masks should be mandated by law as they are on public transport and in shops.

Effective from 13 July, PHE guidance says all clinical and non-clinical staff as well as patients should wear a face mask in areas of GP practices that cannot be made 'Covid-secure' through social distancing, optimal hand hygiene, frequent surface decontamination, ventilation and other measures.

But NHS England has said GPs cannot refuse to treat patients who present at the practice without a face covering because they are not legally required to wear them. In response to its member survey, MPS has urged political leaders to ‘reconsider’ this decision.

Medicolegal lead for risk prevention Dr Pallavi Bradshaw stressed that ‘it cannot be right’ for frontline healthcare workers to be put at ‘unnecessary risk by patients who refuse to wear a face mask’.

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Source: Pulse, 8 August 2020