BMJ - “Downgrade your mask before entering”—a dangerous NHS policy at a critical public health juncture (2 August 2022)

Summary

This opinion piece in The BMJ looks at the impact of the government's decision to make the wearing of masks in healthcare settings the decision of local providers, dependent on local risk assessment and prevalence. It highlights reports of patients wearing high-filtration FFP2 or FFP3 respirator—many of who are immunocompromised—being asked to remove and replace them with less effective single-use masks in order to gain entry to NHS facilities for treatment.

The authors highlight that Covid-19 is an airborne pathogen and that the likelihood of contracting the virus increases with length of time spent in contaminated air. They argue that downgrading mask use in healthcare settings puts everyone at risk, but that it is a particular issue for patients who are clinically extremely vulnerable due to underlying health conditions or because they are undergoing treatment for cancer. They call on the government to upgrade masks to FFP2 or FFP3 respirators in order to protect staff and patients and reverse the worrying trend of clinically extremely vulnerable patients avoiding attending healthcare services.