NHS Midlands chiefs wrote to providers last week advising them to review mask-wearing guidelines “with a view to returning to universal mask-wearing for staff”, The Independent first reported.
The letter added: “At a regional level, we advise that risk assessments are undertaken with a view to encouraging patients and visitors to wear face masks when visiting any healthcare facility unless exempted, although we appreciate that there is no mandate for visitors to wear a face mask and they may refuse to do so.
NHS guidance on face masks
But official guidance from NHS England, sent to trust leaders last month, says masks are only needed for hospitalized patients with suspected or confirmed Covid-19.
The letter from Prof Sir Stephen Powes, national medical director, added that people attending outpatient hospital appointments, A&E or seeing their GP would only be asked to wear a mask if they had respiratory symptoms.
For all other patients, a face mask is not required but should be considered a “personal preference”.
Visitors accompanying outpatients or emergency patients “are not routinely required to wear a face mask”, the guidance added, but may be encouraged to do so depending on local risk assessment.
However, the letter also states that trusts can use their own local risk assessment to determine the “correct interpretation” of the guidance, which is set by the UK Health Safety Agency (UKHSA).
The changes to masking rules by some hospitals come after figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that as of June 29, one in 25 people in England had been infected with Covid-19 – up from one in 30 the previous week.
As of June 30, 11,316 people in the UK had been in hospital with coronavirus, up from 8,350 in the previous week.
UKHSA figures released last week also showed that Covid outbreaks in care homes jumped by 50 per cent in one week, from 211 to 312 outbreaks.
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