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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think this maskless woman should not be working in a hospital?

142 replies

PeachyBottom · 03/02/2021 09:26

Went for a blood test this morning. The area leading to where they are taken is very cramped with small cubicles running off there.

There was a phlebotomist working in the next cubicle to mine without a mask on. She was standing at the opening to my cubicle chatting loudly and laughing to the phlebotomist taking my sample so three of us in very enclosed quarters (no windows) and her breath everywhere.

I was shocked someone would be working in close quarters with lots of members of the public in a hospital without a mask. The ridiculousness of it made me quite angry actually!

AIBU to think that if this person couldn’t wear a mask in these circumstances, she shouldn’t be at work?

OP posts:
LagneyandCasey · 03/02/2021 11:50

@Sweet666

If you're that scared then just stay at home... who cares if she isn't wearing a mask
Yeah who cares? It's only a pandemic that's killed 100k upwards in the UK, many of those contracting it in medical settings Confused
ResIpsaLoquiturInterAlia · 03/02/2021 11:53

Be nipping this nonsensical unexplained behaviour we are collectively making a small difference and possibly enough to save one life if not more. Over 0.1 million (excess premature Covid fatalities) Brits may still be alive if we all conscientiously do whatever it takes to be civic duty of care minded to save all of us as best possible. Seemingly this behaviour being unmasked within splitting distance let alone carrying on with private colleague conversations/laughing while doing a serious public medical procedure in the middle of a pandemic falls well short of minimum expectations and establishes the wrong standards and confused messaging to stress concerned visitors. A pandemic starts with one infected and contagious human vector.

As previously posted this is common behaviour in a retail setting as health and safety is evidently superficial with seemingly little adherence. In a medical facility one would expect health and safety not to be a main concern as healthcare employees not being a part of the cause but a part of the solution. If the healthcare system is falling at the basics what message is that sending out to the public?

MakeMineALarge1 · 03/02/2021 11:55

@OverTheRainbow88
yes colleagues should have said something.
Again I reiterate, if you are patient facing you have to wear a mask. I am not aware of any exceptions.
She should be moved to an non patient facing role.

StrangerHereMyself · 03/02/2021 12:00

Tricky to move a phlebotomist to a non-patient-facing socially distanced role though. In my local hospital phlebotomy is outsourced to a private organisation. It’s really efficient but because it’s a separate organisation I imagine they can’t just redeploy the staff elsewhere in the hospital.

StrangerHereMyself · 03/02/2021 12:01

It’s possible that putting her on paediatrics duty is their only available risk mitigation process.

MakeMineALarge1 · 03/02/2021 12:02

Admin work, answering the phone, updating records etc.
You have to get pretty close to someone to take blood, you have to locate the vein etc, to do all that without wearing a mask (in these times) is irresponsible.

upthekyber · 03/02/2021 12:03

You need to report her because even if she has a medical reason not to wear a mask, the equality act does not override health and safety legislation.

DianaT1969 · 03/02/2021 12:08

She's probably one of the MNers who start threads regularly about why they can't/won't wear masks. You must have seen them and know that some people don't wear them OP?

slidingdrawers · 03/02/2021 12:08

OP, you did the right thing escalating this to PALS. I can understand that you felt compromised. As pp have said, she should not be patient facing if she is mask exempt. If it's any comfort to you she will hopefully have been vaccinated and it is increasingly looking like those who have been have do have a lower transmission risk to others. Regardless she should absolutely be following the strict guidelines in place which are there to protect patients and other colleagues.

Whyistheteacold · 03/02/2021 12:11

I would imagine that if she is unable to wear a mask as she is medically exempt then surely she should not be working in a patient facing role as she is more vulnerable should she catch Covid? I wonder why she has not been furloughed in this case.

YANBU, I would feel very uncomfortable with this.

MadameBlobby · 03/02/2021 12:13

I am not sure the “exemptions” apply in a healthcare setting

Beseigedbykillersquirrels · 03/02/2021 12:18

@OverTheRainbow88 - you seem to think that people with disabilities or MH issues should be given carte blanche to spread the virus. If they can't wear a mask at work then they can't fulfil their duties and alternative duties will be found for them to complete. It doesn't mean they can carry on as of there's not a killer virus pandemic, potentially infecting thousands of people while getting so close to them as to share the same air to breathe. Do you honestly think someone not being able to wear a mask at work means that everybody else has to be put at risk so they can just carry on as normal?

iljatdip · 03/02/2021 12:18

This woman made a point of coming over as she saw my DC was in school uniform asking him if he was at school and how she wished her kids were at school. She asked if all his friends were in too and when he said only a few as the other’s parents aren’t key workers, she said she was a keyworker but hadn’t sent hers in. Obviously she was making a point hmm.

Very cheeky of her. I'd be as annoyed about that as the lack of mask to be honest. Absolutely none of her business as to why your child is in school and as she is a keyworker she could have sent hers and decided not to for whatever reason. Others are free to make their own decisions too.

Meowchickameowmeow · 03/02/2021 12:19

@Sweet666

If you're that scared then just stay at home... who cares if she isn't wearing a mask
Oh fuck off.
PrivateHall · 03/02/2021 12:20

No op this is not acceptable. You would be well within your rights to contact the department to complain.

stablefeet · 03/02/2021 12:20

I think it would have been better to speak up at the time. Nothing nasty, just hold your hand out in a "stop" motion and say something like "hold on, I'm not comfortable with you being so close and chatting here. Could you move further away please?" actually no need to mention the lack of mask.

Calmandmeasured1 · 03/02/2021 12:22

@Sweet666

If you're that scared then just stay at home... who cares if she isn't wearing a mask
Clearly the OP cares, otherwise she wouldn't have created the thread. 69% of 170 MNers agree with her so presumably they, including me, care too.

andyoldlabour · 03/02/2021 12:27

Everyone in a hospital should be wearing masks at the very least - patients and staff, no exceptions.
No wonder we have over 106,000 dead from Covid-19 in the UK.

SofiaMichelle · 03/02/2021 12:30

@Sweet666

If you're that scared then just stay at home... who cares if she isn't wearing a mask
Don't be so silly.

I'm not scared of Covid in the least bit for myself, but that's nothing to do with whether HCPs should be doing everything possible to prevent the spread.

SycamoreGap · 03/02/2021 12:31

@TakeTheCuntOutOfScunthorpe

YANBU to be angry. But if she's exempt, she's exempt. Staffing pressures are very real - which is better, have a phlebotomist with no mask, or have cancelled appointments because the phlebotomist cannot work?

But regardless of her being exempt or not, she should be doing her best to avoid spreading - and that includes not talking and laughing unnecessarily as you describe.

It would be better to have a re-arranged appointment to be honest. We've been locked in for months as my DH has leukaemia - he'd be cross if his phlebotomist didn't have a mask, but he would also have said something about it.
MaxNormal · 03/02/2021 12:31

No wonder we have over 106,000 dead from Covid-19 in the UK.

That's really not the reason why. If she wasn't wearing one, she'd have had a valid reason.
I really fear for how people are going to go back to normal mentally after this pandemic is over. It's deranged at the moment.

warmandtoasty2day · 03/02/2021 12:33

@Sweet666

If you're that scared then just stay at home... who cares if she isn't wearing a mask
goady, hiding under the bridge or just a twat, can't make out which one applies to writer of above comment.
Gwenhwyfar · 03/02/2021 12:35

"maybe she forgot"

No way. If everyone else is wearing one, she hasn't forgotten has she?
I've gone out of the house without one a couple of times (we have to wear them outside here) but then bought one in the first shop I saw with my coat collar covering my mouth. No way would I have even been allowed into my work without one and that's an office, not NHS.

SycamoreGap · 03/02/2021 12:35

@Sweet666

If you're that scared then just stay at home... who cares if she isn't wearing a mask
Maybe the immunocompromised patients who've been shielding for months and don't want to die from COVID and needs their blood checked?

But hey ho as long as you're ok and I get to feel better by sticking the knife in...

SycamoreGap · 03/02/2021 12:37

@MaxNormal

No wonder we have over 106,000 dead from Covid-19 in the UK.

That's really not the reason why. If she wasn't wearing one, she'd have had a valid reason.
I really fear for how people are going to go back to normal mentally after this pandemic is over. It's deranged at the moment.

There is no valid reason for a phlebotomist not wear a mask.

Even worse that she deliberately approached a patient when there was no need for her to do so.