NHS chiefs criticise government for making policy ‘on the hoof’ after hospital mask ruling

NHS chiefs have criticised the government for making policy “on the hoof” after new face covering regulations for hospitals were announced, saying that trust leaders were not consulted in advance and “have been left completely in the dark”.

Matt Hancock, the health secretary, said on Friday that all hospital visitors and outpatients in England would need to wear face coverings and hospital staff must use surgical masks as of 15 June to help limit the transmission of Covid-19.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokeswoman added that, while members of the public attending hospital are “strongly urged” to wear a face covering, no one will be denied care and masks will be provided by the hospital if necessary.

NHS Providers, the membership organisation for NHS trusts in England, has since accused the government of mismanagement and insisted that the latest policy announcement has come “with absolutely no notice or consultation”.

Chief executive Chris Hopson told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Two major changes on the use of personal protection equipment and on visiting policy were announced late yesterday afternoon at the end of what to be frank was a very busy, difficult and hard week for our trust leaders, with absolutely no notice or consultation.

“I think it’s the latest in a long line of announcements that have had a major impact on the way the NHS operates in which those frontline organisations feel they have been left completely in the dark and they are then expected to make significant and complex operational changes either immediately or with very little notice.”

Mr Hopson said trust leaders were worried there was not enough strategy or planning and that it feels like “last-minute decisions are being made on the hoof that seem overly influenced by politics and also the need to fill the space at the Downing Street press conferences”.

He added: “We really need to get into a proper, sensible forward plan and forward strategy on what we’re trying to do where trusts are given the time and the space they need to do complex and difficult things.”

“Our political leaders need to understand that running these organisations is a complex and difficult task and what you can’t do is turn on a sixpence and do stuff like give every single member of staff a face mask without being prepared for it, and also without being sure that you’ve got the masks that you need to ensure that that requirement is met.”

Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive of NHS Providers, said that a lack of forewarning from the government has left trusts scrambling to find enough equipment to cater for hospital staff, patients and visitors.

“(The announcement) of compulsory mask wearing for all NHS staff working in any part of a hospital is clearly designed to help to ensure that both staff and patients are protected and feel safe,” she said in a statement.

“But, as is the case for a number of announcements throughout the pandemic, this has come … without a plan in place to ensure that all trusts will have access to adequate supplies of type one and two masks.”

Ms Cordery also added trusts were nervous about the imminent lifting of some patient visiting restrictions from 15 June.

“We know that trusts want to do all they can to ensure that patients can have contact with their loved ones while in hospital, but there is understandably nervousness and concern about opening up visiting too quickly,” she said.

“Trusts need time to put in place processes and guidance to ensure that patients can receive visitors safely and while adhering to social distancing and infection control measures.

“Important decisions like these should not come as a surprise to those expected to deliver them.”

Additional reporting by PA