COVID-19 staff faqs: wearing face masks in our hospitals

Yes. All staff - clinical or non-clinical - need to wear a face mask when at work, and when moving between different areas. This applies to staff working in all of our hospital sites.

Please remember - wearing a face mask does not replace social distancing and good hand hygiene. You should continue to practise these while wearing a face mask.

Tips for wearing face masks (pdf, 271 KB)

Poster to print out: follow this guidance at all times (pdf, 158 KB)

They apply to everyone working on our hospital sites including workers in our retail units, PFI staff, those employed by the University of Oxford and contractors. Visitors and patients need to wear a face covering or a face mask.

A face mask is designed and manufactured to be used in a healthcare setting.

A face covering is not designed for the same uses, and is made from fabric or cloth and should cover your mouth and nose while allowing you to breathe comfortably..

No - while at work use a face mask.

You can wear a face covering - so the fabric covering, rather than the mask - when travelling to and from work (face coverings are mandatory on public transport), or in areas where social distancing is difficult, such as in supermarkets.

You should not wear a face covering instead of a face mask when moving around our hospitals if at all possible.

Staff working in clinical areas already have access to face mask supplies, and should continue to access stock in the normal way.

Masks are available from main entrances, main reception areas and ward receptions.

• Wash or sanitise your hands before putting it on
• Ensure the mask goes up to the bridge of your nose and all the way down under your chin
• Tighten the loops or ties so it's snug around your face
• Avoid touching your face, or the parts of the mask that cover your nose and mouth
• Wash or sanitise your hands before taking it off
• Use the ear loops to take the mask off and wash or sanitise your hands afterwards.

There is no set time, nor recommended number of masks you should use each day. It all depends on what you are doing.

However, if your mask gets dirty, wet or damaged, or if you touch the inside of it, then you should change to a new one (following the steps above).

When you take it off to eat or drink, you should dispose of the old mask, wash or sanitise your hands, and replace it with a new one once you have finished eating.

No, if you are working alone you will not be expected to wear a mask - but when you leave the private work area to move through the hospital building, for example on an errand or to get some lunch - you should put on a face mask.

A COVID-secure area is one where:

• social distancing can be maintained at all times, with staff two metres apart
• staff have easy access to hand washing and/or hand sanitising facilities
• the area is regularly cleaned.

Staff do not necessarily need to wear a mask if all of these conditions are met at all times, however this is subject to a workplace risk assessment and must be fully documented.

The Workplace Safety Managers Guide and Workplace Risk Assessment is available in the Health and Safety Document Library on the staff intranet.

In most cases face masks are safe for anyone to wear, regardless of health conditions, and all staff working on hospital sites are now expected under national guidance to wear face masks in our hospital buildings unless they are in a COVID-secure area (see above). This applies to both clinical and non-clinical staff and to contractors and anyone else working on our sites. Anyone who is not able to wear a face mask should not be working on site.

In corridors, lifts, on staircases and in any other communal areas staff are expected to wear masks. For those not used to wearing masks, they can initially feel restrictive, hot and uncomfortable, but for most, these feelings will improve in the short-term.

Like all hospitals, we are asking all members of staff to wear masks to help limit the spread of COVID-19, and keep people safe.

This is in line with Government guidance.

We encourage all staff to challenge others who have forgotten their face mask, to politely remind them of the need to wear one. There are face masks available at most hospital entrances. If we are not wearing a mask we should expect to be challenged and to put one on.

If you have concerns, please speak to your line manager.

Face masks have been used in hospitals for years, and very few staff experience problems. However, if you do experience problems, speak to your line manager in the first instance.

Our Occupational Health team can also help you assess and manage this - you can also look at their guidance document (pdf, intranet link).

In the very unlikely event you experience an allergic reaction, please seek medical attention.

Identify which patient has hearing loss, and ensure a plan is put in place for how you are going to communicate with them.

Make sure you are facing the patient you are speaking to and speak clearly - avoid shouting, or speaking too fast or too slowly.

Write things down - use pen and paper, a white board, or text on device screens.

For patients who still have some hearing, make sure the environment is quiet and speak loudly and clearly.

If the patient uses a hearing aid, make sure they are wearing their hearing aid and the battery is working.

Use simple gestures, and sign language if known.

If someone doesn't understand you, repeat what you said or phrase it differently - remember to use plain language.

Once a face mask is removed from the face, it should be thrown away and replaced with a new mask due to the risk of contamination of hands/surfaces with respiratory droplets.

If the face mask has been worn 'clinically' the mask should be disposed in a clinical waste bin before leaving the clinical area.

No, face masks are for use on hospital premises and should be disposed of before leaving the Trust. Face coverings should be worn on public transport.

We are asking outpatients and members of the public to wear a face covering at all times.

There are some exceptions, which include children under five years old, and people with learning difficulties.

We will continue to revisit this.

If a patient turns up at our hospitals without a face covering, they should be supplied with a face mask. However, we are encouraging patients to bring their own face coverings in the first instance.

As inpatients, women in labour are managed under different guidance. Women in hospital setting as outpatients to antenatal or postnatal appointments will need to wear a face covering under the guidance.

For some, wearing of a face covering may be difficult, and therefore all other measures must also be considered and introduced. This could include social or physical distancing, timed appointments, being seen immediately, and not kept in waiting rooms.