Hospital tell us to wear FFP3 masks now!

[Fordian]

The Trust I work for mandated the wearing of FFP3 masks in clinical areas yesterday; to date it was paper masks only, even tacitly banning FFP3 masks except originally dealing with aerosol generating patients (ventilated etc)- you could only wear your paper mask when dealing with non-ventilated covid patients, of which there were many. I noted several consultants ignored that and wore FFP3 masks all the time, though.

About 3 weeks ago they moved to the staff wearing FFP3 masks with any confirmed positive patient; now, as it appears we're moving towards no restrictions out in society, my Trust is putting us in more PPE!

This is all so mad! I recall at the start of the pandemic, we were banned from wearing masks in case it frightened the public as the numbers shot up. Then we were banned from not wearing PPE. As we fashioned PPE from bin-liners and reused single-use PPE. Then it was paper masks only, pretty much. Now here we are stepping up PPE.

This is making no sense.

We only use N95 (same different name) in all clinical areas- and facesgields- hate them. Not UK HCW. Positives pop up everywhere- we have very little patient to staff transmission. It's best practise I feel.

Same at my trust. We’ve stepped up to stage 4 so we have army personal on site and have enhanced PPE while the rest of the population are having less restrictions and think it’s all over. Madness!

The last 2 years the rest of Europe have been looking at the U.K. saying WTAF as the wore hazmats and we were being told to take off our surgical masks in corridors and staff blamed for contracting covid wearing them, as they must have caught it outside of work or being naughty in work. FFS.

But kudos to your trust for finally saying that.

Other European countries needed a higher level than surgical just for general public being outside!

All they had to say at the beginning was masks work, we want FFP3t we don’t have enough so we’ll do our best. But then it wouldn’t have been good for the next election round and I watched the whole thing with the thick of it playing in my head

@SD1978

We only use N95 (same different name) in all clinical areas- and facesgields- hate them. Not UK HCW. Positives pop up everywhere- we have very little patient to staff transmission. It's best practise I feel.

An N95 is an FFP2. Significantly less protective but significantly more comfortable (yes, really) than an FFP3.