NHS Trusts and GP Surgeries Bringing Back Masks in All Clinical Areas

Patients are entitled to say they will not wear a mask and the health service provider is duty bound to respect the patient’s wishes, say solicitors.

A woman wearing a mask walks past a display in support of the NHS outside Harrods in London, Britain on March 31, 2020. Dylan Martinez/Reuters

Increasingly, NHS practices are reinstating face masks for all patients attending surgery as a “precautionary measure” against a new COVID-19 variant.

Although face coverings are no longer mandatory, NHS clinics and GPs are insisting they must be worn more and more at clinical areas.

In 2022, as part of the national policy of living with COVID-19, the requirement to wear a mask in all NHS areas was removed.

Since the rules were dropped, disposable face masks were only required to be worn in certain high-risk areas of hospitals, such as assessment units, the emergency department, and critical care units.

However, now there is a push for patients, visitors, and staff required to wear face masks to be worn in all areas.

It comes as the NHS continues to roll out the latest Covid booster vaccine early because a new coronavirus variant called BA.2.86 was detected.

However, a solicitor told The Epoch Times that those who refuse to provide health care services to a patient who doesn’t want to wear a mask could find themselves in legal trouble.

Staff wearing PPE gloves and face masks, as a precautionary measure against COVID-19, disinfect an ambulance after it arrived with a patient at St Thomas' Hospital in north London, on April 1, 2020. Photo by Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP via Getty Images

Face Masks

Since April, NHS has moved toward local decision-making on face masks, with some GP practices and NHS Trusts introducing masks from late September/early October.

From Sept. 27, patients and visitors at the Alexandra, Kidderminster, and Worcestershire Royal Hospitals have been being asked to wear facemasks in all clinical areas, which they said was “to protect themselves, their loved ones, and hospital staff against the risk of COVID-19 infection.”

GP practices in Leicester have reinstated face masks for all patients attending the surgery as a “precautionary measure” to protect vulnerable patients.

Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust (LPT) is asking “all staff and visitors to wear fluid-resistant surgical masks in all clinical areas.” These include all in-patient wards and outpatient areas (including clinic rooms and patient waiting areas).

Maples Family Medical Practice, which is part of NHS West Leicestershire Clinical Commissioning Group wrote that “as cases of respiratory infections have started to increase, NHS Infection Prevention teams have decided to reintroduce masks as a precautionary measure to help limit transmission and protect those at higher risk in Healthcare Settings.”

“This advice is aimed at both staff and patients. From today, it is advised that all patients and visitors attending the surgery wear a mask in clinical areas, unless medically exempt,” it added.

The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust, which serves three hospital sites in the West Midlands, said that from Oct. 10, it returned “to mask wearing in all clinical areas at each of our Trust sites and we encourage visitors also to wear a mask.”

Elderly people wear protective masks as they walk down a street in London, England, on April 1, 2020. Justin Setterfield/Getty Images

Unregulated Product

While all of the new guidance for patients is advisory only, there could be legal issues if any clinic insists on turning away patients who refuse.

Solicitor Philip Hyland, from PJH Law, told The Epoch Times by email that in the UK “masks or face coverings are unregulated products,” adding that they “are neither Personal Protective Equipment, nor medical devices.”

“No one can require you to wear any unregulated product,” he said.

“Further, no one can make receiving publicly funded health services conditional on wearing a face covering or mask. Patients are entitled to say they will not wear a mask, and the health service provider, be it the NHS or a local GP, is duty bound to respect the patient’s wishes,” said Mr. Hyland.

“Any health service provider who refuses to provide health care services to a patient who refuses to wear a mask will leave themselves exposed to legal claims for consequential losses and harm,” he said.

The Epoch Times put Mr. Hyland’s comments to LPT.

A spokesman told The Epoch Times by email, “Mask-wearing is not mandated for visitors. It is guidance only; there are no legal obligations regarding mask-wearing currently. ”

“We are trying to ensure an informed choice is made by visitors to protect themselves and their relatives and friends. We would never not provide the care needed to any individual and always endeavour to ensure the best quality service is provided,” he added.

The Epoch Times contacted the NHS for comment.

PA Media contributed to this report.