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Original poster

Face masks proof of exemption

200 replies

PumpkinP · 21/07/2020 14:05

I am exempt from wearing face masks due to asthma , I just was expecting to show my asthma pump but today my mum was on the bus and she said the police got on and was demanding proof from people and saying that they needed to see a drs letter. Do I need a doctors letter? As I haven’t heard that you do till now.

OP posts:
Spikeyball · 22/07/2020 11:04

"So that's not actually an issue that can't be solved, but the answer isn't "do whatever you like because you think you can't comply with the rule""

Did anyone say it was? Why do some people always assume that everyone requiring reasonable adjustments is going to be unreasonable?

Greywind1523 · 22/07/2020 11:10

I think the issue is that there are people out there who are claiming to be exempt because they have asthma, yet haven’t used an inhaler since they were a child.

Of course there are people out there that can’t wear one due to physical/mental illness, but the number of others claiming they can’t without even trying one is making it hard for the legitimate ones.

Some just aren’t willing to try just because they don’t like the idea. I don’t think anybody particularly wants to wear one but it’s the responsible thing to do if you can. GPs don’t have the time or resources to be providing exemption letters.

Covid doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon so the sooner the people that just don’t fancy wearing a mask get over themselves the better.

Spikeyball · 22/07/2020 11:10

The unreasonable people are those coming out with "You HAVE to wear a mask or you CAN'T see a doctor" to frighten vulnerable people.

BellaintheWychElm · 22/07/2020 11:12

I think the issue is that there are people out there who are claiming to be exempt because they have asthma, yet haven’t used an inhaler since they were a child

Has this really happened - have many people actually said I used an inhaler once when I was 10 so I am not going to wear a mask now? Really?

MRex · 22/07/2020 11:15

@Spikeyball - actually no, multiple people on this thread have been implying, or sometimes even actively saying, that no medical support is available without a mask. These people haven't said "I was not allowed a phone appointment", nor "my consultant agrees a mask is dangerous to my health but refused to make arrangements for me to be seen without one".

Spikeyball · 22/07/2020 11:31

One of those people was a medical person saying no one could get seen in their department without a mask.
There will also be others who will have been stopped by gatekeepers who refused to listen and maintain a computer say no mentality ( been there myself about other things.) Or they will say you must wear a mask not giving consideration to the fact that the person they are speaking to may be vulnerable and not be up to starting a discussion about it and asking for adjustments.
The person I quoted was someone spouting rubbish - they said afterwards there were exemptions- so presumably did it to frighten people.

Greywind1523 · 22/07/2020 11:34

@BellaintheWychElm

I think the issue is that there are people out there who are claiming to be exempt because they have asthma, yet haven’t used an inhaler since they were a child

Has this really happened - have many people actually said I used an inhaler once when I was 10 so I am not going to wear a mask now? Really?

I’m sure you’ve come across people who claim to have something that prevents them from doing swimming/sports at school just because they don’t enjoy it, those who lean on others to do things they claim not to be able to, yet manage fine when they have to (example - a family member of mine who says he’s too poorly to walk his dog and do his shopping, yet managed without issue for 2 weeks when those that normally do it for him went on holiday), those who bypass a queue as they think it’s too much of an inconvenience.

You must know that there are people out there that have decided they’re exempt without even trying on a mask. It’s just the nature of some people unfortunately.

RB68 · 22/07/2020 11:35

As if GPs don't have enough to do the whole thingis crazy - I agree with weearing masks but honestly we just need to get as much as we can. If people struggle for health reasons fair enough - its the other tossers that piss me off. I don't know how they will ever enforse any fines on this basis

RB68 · 22/07/2020 11:36

**enforce

MRex · 22/07/2020 11:39

@Spikeyball - there are "clean" departments in most hospitals I thought, the person needs to make arrangements such as being seen in PPE in another area. It's inconvenient but people need to ask for help, not just rock up with no mask.

Dinosauratemydaffodils · 22/07/2020 11:50

multiple people on this thread have been implying, or sometimes even actively saying, that no medical support is available without a mask.

That's my current situation. In order to get the sleeping pills I need, my GP is insisting on seeing me face to face so she can assess my mental health. I don't want to see her, I want the pills. I've done video chats with her during lockdown, she's the one saying no to that. I've spoken to her on the phone, again not good enough. I've asked if I could see her outdoors, no. I've asked if the prescription could be broken down to 1 pill a day because dh would happily pick them up individually, no. The practice has a blanket rule on masks. Fair enough if they'd just prescribe the pills my psychiatrist has asked them to but they won't. Given she was the one pushing for me to be sectioned earlier in lockdown, there is no way I'm attempting to wear a mask anywhere near her so yes I feel I'm not getting medical support. I'm trying to look after a 5 year old and a 2 year old on minimal sleep and in a constant state of high alert. It's getting to the point where I feel like reporting myself to SS.

It certainly feels like I can't access medical care.

Spikeyball · 22/07/2020 11:51

The reason was to do with that poster being clinically vulnerable and not clean departments. Rather than saying I can't see a patient without a mask it was they don't get seen at all.

Hearwego · 22/07/2020 12:02

Maybe there’s another reason GPS don’t want to write out exemption letters- in case someone does actually die. They might give Joe Bloggs a letter, who picks it up in a shop and dies. Queue his family try to sue the doctor/ have them struck off.
If I was a doctor, I would now want to take responsibility for someone wearing a face covering or not, for it to be in my head afterwards
Remember it’s a blame culture society we live in.

Spikeyball · 22/07/2020 12:16

Wearing a mask isn't going to make anyone immune from catching coronavirus in a supermarket or anywhere else. There is zero chance of anyone being successfully sued or struck off.

Hearwego · 22/07/2020 12:22

Wearing a mask isn't going to make anyone immune from catching coronavirus in a supermarket or anywhere else. There is zero chance of anyone being successfully sued or struck off.**

I don’t think masks stop the virus full stop I just meant I doubt many GPS want to take responsibility for individual people, whether they wear one or not.

LangClegsInSpace · 22/07/2020 12:28

GPs don't want to write exemption letters because both the dept of transport and the dept of health and social care have told them that people who are exempt from wearing a mask do not need a letter to prove their case.

I don't know why some people are having such difficulty absorbing this information Hmm

www.pulsetoday.co.uk/news/gps-fielding-large-number-of-questions-about-face-masks-in-shops/20041160.article

LangClegsInSpace · 22/07/2020 12:30

[quote HeIenaDove]46 attacks on disabled people already for not wearing masks

From Twitter................video and thread.

twitter.com/transportforall/status/1285615607744995329?s=20[/quote]
Fucking hell.

MRex · 22/07/2020 13:21

@Dinosauratemydaffodils - If your psychiatrist is able to assign a prescription then they should normally write it for you, it's just the same as dentists, can you go back to them to ask? Clearly your GP is for whatever issue not on board with the treatment plan, so it's a strange situation. If you don't like the GP's approach (and it sounds like trust has gone) then you may be better to switch practice and discuss everything with another GP. If you feel you need help from Social Services then of course it's ok to call them, you just need to be really clear about what you hope they'll do to help you because resources can be quite constrained. The charity Mind might also be able to help with ideas for how best to get help given your specific situation and the relationship breakdown with the GP.

Becca19962014 · 22/07/2020 13:32

mrex I believe that poster is in Wales, if prescribed directly by psychiatrist then they'd need to attend hospital pharmacy and pay privately for their meds - they'd also need to wear a mask then too (that's how it works in my healthboard) as consultant prescriptions here are private prescriptions not NHS ones. As I learnt to my cost when I was prescribed meds years ago by them and it cost me over forty pounds and turned out the reason they prescribed them was to by-pass my GP and the system that would have immediately alerted them to not prescribe them as they were dangerous for me (psychiatrist refuses to accept my medical diagnoses).

Some dentists do the same thing only prescribe privately not on NHS.

I've had no medical care for over four months. Both physical and mental conditions have severely deterioated. I can't be rung as my GP surgery refuse to unblock their number, they also insist that people pick up within two rings any time over two days which would be impossible for me. Or you must use zoom which my equipment won't rung. Also they won't offer this for on going conditions, my GP surgery is now emergencies only and masks essential at all times.

I supposed to be seen and monitored weekly.

HeIenaDove · 22/07/2020 15:12

Cressida Dick hasnt helped matters either.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-53498100

Dame Cressida Dick said she hoped shoppers who refused to wear masks would be "shamed" into compliance

Is she expecting members of the public to prove their medical exemption to anyone who asks. When its none of their business anyway.

Just because someone is maskless it doesnt mean they are refusing They will likely be exempt. Is she advocating that people go up and enquire to find out? Or is she advocating that anyone who is maskless be deemed to be automatically refusing.

RagamuffinCat · 22/07/2020 15:17

Masks definitely make my asthma worse. Humid conditions generally do though, and as soon as the mask gets damp it starts me off coughing and my chest gets tight. I haven't left one on long enough to see how long it takes to induce a full attack.

Dinosauratemydaffodils · 22/07/2020 15:48

If your psychiatrist is able to assign a prescription then they should normally write it for you

I'm in rural Scotland. Every prescription I've had for mental health has been prescribed by the GP on the behalf of the psychiatrist to save me a 60 plus mile round trip to collect. We don't exactly have many options for changing practices. It's not that I don't like the GP's approach I can understand why they are uncomfortable about prescribing that many pills to someone with my history but a mask is not an option. If I could wear one, I wouldn't be under a psychiatrist in the first place so it just means I can't get the pills. I can't sleep right now so my mental health will get worse and worse. I think they see sleeping pills as a plaster and think I need therapy and/or support instead but I'm not in a place to engage with therapy right now.

I don't want support from SS, I want them to take the kids before I cease to function any further. I'm turning into my mother and I can't bear it.

BamboozledandBefuddled · 22/07/2020 16:08

@HeIenaDove

Cressida Dick hasnt helped matters either.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-53498100

Dame Cressida Dick said she hoped shoppers who refused to wear masks would be "shamed" into compliance

Is she expecting members of the public to prove their medical exemption to anyone who asks. When its none of their business anyway.

Just because someone is maskless it doesnt mean they are refusing They will likely be exempt. Is she advocating that people go up and enquire to find out? Or is she advocating that anyone who is maskless be deemed to be automatically refusing.

What's massively pissed me off with that, is her clear assumption that it will be the people who aren't wearing masks who become 'aggressive'. That wouldn't appear to have been the case on public transport. I assume this means police impartiality has been suspended under the emergency legislation - if anyone ever believed it existed in the first place.
IAintentDead · 22/07/2020 16:33

@HeIenaDove

Cressida Dick hasnt helped matters either.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-53498100

Dame Cressida Dick said she hoped shoppers who refused to wear masks would be "shamed" into compliance

Is she expecting members of the public to prove their medical exemption to anyone who asks. When its none of their business anyway.

Just because someone is maskless it doesnt mean they are refusing They will likely be exempt. Is she advocating that people go up and enquire to find out? Or is she advocating that anyone who is maskless be deemed to be automatically refusing.

I think she will be regretting that statement.

If she isn't already, she will be when the police are called to altercations because of assaults or altercations when members of the public decide they do have the right - despite government statement saying they shouldn't.

I don't believe it is the police's job either.

LangClegsInSpace · 22/07/2020 17:36

Dame Cressida Dick, Commissioner of the Met Police, is advocating unlawful harassment of disabled people.

Fucking hell.