Question reference: S6W-22363
- Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
- Date lodged: 24 October 2023
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Current status: Answered by Maree Todd on 6 November 2023
Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the COVID-19 face masks and face coverings guidance withdrawal issued to social care workers on 9 May 2023, whether social care workers will still have the personal choice to wear PPE, even when this is not recommended in the National Infection Prevention and Control Manual (NIPCM) or the Care Home Infection Prevention and Control Manual (CH IPCM).
Answer
Social care workers have always been, and continue to be, able to choose to wear a mask.
The Scottish Government’s guidance on the extended use of face masks and face coverings was first published in June 2020. It was an adjunct to guidance for social care workers on the use of face masks within the National Infection Prevention and Control Manual (NIPCM) and the Care Home Infection Prevention and Control Manual (CH IPCM). In September 2022, the face mask guidance for adult social care settings was amended and staff, visitors and service users of adult social care settings stopped routinely wearing face masks. Guidance on the use of face masks had therefore reverted to circumstances as set out in the NIPCM/CH NIPCM with one addition: “Staff, visitors and those receiving care and support may choose to wear a mask and this should be supported”. It was this line of guidance that was withdrawn in May 2023.
Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare Associated Infection (ARHAI) Scotland recommended that this line of guidance was removed as it was unnecessary and increased the risk of confusion and misinterpretation, and that guidance on the use of face masks in adult social care settings should revert to the NIPCM, which is based on clinical need and risk assessment. The withdrawal of the extended guidance on the use of face masks and face coverings in social care settings and reversion to the NIPCM/ CH NIPCM does not prevent social care workers from wearing a face mask.