Having to wear masks at work again

[KangarooKenny]

Had an email today, masks to be worn at work, and two negative tests before you go back to work. In this heat too !

yes, no special covid sickness exemptions anymore

it goes under regular sickness.....so use it all up or get a red sickness if workplace has RAG procedure then you could lose your job

You are a nurse, your patients are vulnerable - I get that it is hot, but COVID rates are high, hospitalisations are putting real pressure on the NHS.

I think masks in healthcare are the right thing at the current time.

or not get paid....

FFP3s are now down to about 40p each, so I buy them in bulk for indoor use. If I'm caught out, I double or triple mask with the blue surgical masks, and wear them properly shaped and covered. The FFP2/3s are much more comfortable and don't get sweaty for hours, so well worth the 40p a day to me. Better than infecting others or not working, in my view.

You’ve got to ask yourself, why were people so keen to believe the King of Bullshit himself Boris Johnson that covid was over and the NHS could cope?

Well quite

The number of hospital admissions is rising quite sharply

coronavirus.data.gov.uk/

If covid becomes rife in hospitals, such that things like cancer services cannot be safely provided, then we're fucked. And no, the vaccines won't help a patient group whose treatment leaves them highly immune-suppressed. Also the government has yet to fund Evushield (prophylactic antibody treatment for those for whom the vaccines will not work) despite it being approved several months ago and being in use in many other countries.

I still socially distance, wear masks everywhere, and regularly RAT test

@Toddlerteaplease I completely agree! It's a shame it took a PALS complaint from a patients family to get her off the ward!

Our patients are so vulnerable

n95 masks are pretty damn effective in tests yes? Air filtration systems would be better though? Scientifically speaking?

all seems reasonable to me. I hate wearing them too but it’s worth it to avoid getting ill

I thought as a nurse you would still be wearing masks.

@parenthood1989 no it depends on trust. Where I work they said no more masks on June 6th and then on June 21st decided that was a bad call.

When did you stop?
Our community health staff have never stopped wearing them.

We have a member of staff who refuses to wear them too.
NHS.

Despite the trust now asking everyone to wear them again
I think she's about to be suspended tbh.
I'm glad.

She's also anti vax and tbf I'm sick of hearing her bullshit.

Masks work if they are worn properly - tightly over the nose and mouth.

Too many people wear them loose, under the nose or pulled down to under the chin.

Too many people are simply failing to take this seriously.

We’ve never stopped. 12-14 hr shifts. I live in a country in which we would laugh in the face of someone who thought 32 degrees was hot.

I guess it’s lucky some people aren’t health care workers as they simply couldn’t cope.

Really?

goodness how fortunate you don’t do long hospital shifts. You’d never have been free from the mask.

We never stopped wearing them.

When we were told we didn’t need them anymore.

Where do you bulk purchase from? On the hunt for a load to get us through various holidays/airport trips currently.

I work in the NHS on a ward. We were told a week ago that we had to go back to mask wearing.

A&E nurse - never stopped wearing them. We don’t have working aircon, and infection control have stopped us from using fans.

It is hot, and it is uncomfortable, but yes, you do have to suck it up. Don’t try and guilt people with that ‘you clapped for me’ nonsense when you’re just being asked to follow common sense infection prevention measures. They clapped for me too, and I think you should absolutely suck it up.

I went to an outpatients appointment at my local hospital a couple of weeks ago and wore a mask. I was told by one of the nurses that they had removed the requirement for masks so I could take it off if I wanted to. I had to see five HCPs during the appointment and none of them wore one. This sounds slightly at odds with other people's experiences.

Medical grade ones are around a £1 each, amazon, most online pharmacies.

Im currently on holiday in Cyprus. Indoor mask mandate and on all public transport. It’s a bloody nightmare in this heat. Don’t see it working being everyone seems to wear them under their nose 🤷‍♀️

All shops around me have taken down the shields and now have lots of staff off with covid. Mask wearing has increased. DH had hospital appointment yesterday, he wore a mask as it was a very busy outpatient area.

👏👏