NHS non-clinical staff and mask wearing

[HotWatBot]

I've found our internal comms about this quite confusing - masks should be worn at all times / masks don't need to be worn if you can physically distance by 2m - and I know that some people will resist wearing a mask at work. So I'm not sure what tomorrow will look like at work! I'm happy enough to wear a mask.

How have other Trusts interpreted the new guidance for non-clinical staff?

I haven’t been in work since last week so I’m interested to see how it’s going to be interpreted in our department.

2 metres has been impossible in our workplace but no one (as in the people coming round with their clipboards) seems to really acknowledge it so actually I’m pretty happy about the idea of wearing masks. My only concern is there is no space to take a break either. It’s fine to go outside when the weather is nice but people have to eat and drink at their desks otherwise.

Yes, I'm happy to wear a mask, but I wonder whether I'll be in the minority 🙄.

I see little point in sitting in my office alone sweating in a mask 🤷‍♀️

Do you need one according to the guidance from your Trust when you're alone in an office though?

Actually - no. Sorry 😆

😄

I'm going to re-read all of the guidance that we've been sent later. It's definitely inconsistent and contradictory though! I appreciate that it's a big thing to introduce and to get right, so hopefully things will become clearer over the course of week.

Our office is fairly small and odd shaped, operations manager has said that if I am at my desk then no mask is needed because I am in the corner basically. If I leave my desk then I need to wear a mask. Staff around the corner need to wear masks though as there is no realistic way of keeping the distance rule and people are walking past a lot of the time.
I did eat my lunch at my desk because the break room is tiny and people are still making drinks in there too. Unless I go and sit in my car there is not any alternative.

it looks like if you walk through the corridors you need a mask, if you walk through out patients,
if you are in your office/in a meeting where you are 2 metres apart, you dont need a mask. And they need to be surgical masks, not home made.
presumably if you are on reception they have put plastic dividers up?

in the canteen, you should be sitting 6 foot apart to eat

Yes, I'm wondering about corridors - there hasn't been any mention of them.

No, I'm not patient-facing.

We've had contradictory advice and received very limited supplies. Am watching to see what happens in reality next week.

it is very bad it is so last minute! on Friday we got the decision

Ours is surprisingly clear tbf. You wear a mask at all times in the building except when actively eating or drinking. The only caveat is if you are in a one person office it is not needed but you must put one on if you leave.

Our trust says all staff in hospitals must wear a mask at all times from tomorrow including those office based the only exception is if you're alone in an office

I'm hoping for clarity tomorrow 🤞🏻.

Our trust says you need to wear a mask as you go in, in corridors but we don't have wear one in a office if you can do social distancing and you work with the same people all day. So we lock are door so people have to knock and we put a mask on to go speak to them.

I'm curious too. I'm in a community team, no patients access our floor. They've reduced the number of people sitting in each office but there is no way we are all 2m away from each other, the corridor in between each room is narrow and the kitchen is tiny.
I'm betting our manager won't enforce us wearing masks because I think she thinks we are social distancing as we should. It's laughable really.

In our trust you get handed a mask as you enter the building and must wear one at all times on site including offices.They need to be disposed of in clinical bins,not black ones.

I'm nhs but on a ward we have been told as soon as we enter the hospital grounds we have to have a mask on ie to walk from the car into the hospital. We have to wear in the corridors basically at all times

General Practice. Our admin staff are wearing them near each other or patients but not when alone or far away from each other.
I take mine off between patients as I have my own treatment room (Nurse) and wear it if I'm in the corridor or admin areas.

I'm betting our manager won't enforce us wearing masks because I think she thinks we are social distancing as we should. It's laughable really

This is what happened at my department today, in my office of 9 where we’re barely one meter apart and my manager announced today masks weren’t necessary. This is on a floor of >40 people (clinicians and admin) sharing one kitchen and two toilets.

Awesome.

We are in a mental health unit and it's equally confusing despite it being clinical. Service users hate them, and I mean hate them, scared of them etc. So we have tried not wearing them/ staying 2 metres from anyone at all times- but it's honestly impossible as the corridors are tight etc, shared kitchen facilities, when we go to the office door obviously not 2 metres away. Manager is saying we are social distancing though so we are fine not to wear them, but we all know we are not really social distancing at all. Now this week we all have to take a covid test ( staff and residents) if one of us comes back positive we will be buggered really as we will all have to self isolate in theory and then nobody to staff the unit!!)

We have to wear masks in public corridors, on hospital grounds but not in the office if you’re 2m apart (which we are as some colleagues are permanently wfh at the moment so we can use all of the office space to the maximum). Some confusion around using the toilets which are across the corridor - it was mooted that you’d need a new mask every time which seems a colossal waste... there are thousands of staff so if each person were to wear say 3 masks a day (if you don’t wee that much!) that’s nearly 200,000 used masks a week! So much waste :(

that seems extreme @Meer

We are community based and we're told to wear masks as from today at all times unless we are in an office on our own. Meal breaks we eat at our desk. We've spaced out to prob 1.5 metres now but up until recently we were barely a metre apart. Shocking really.