NHS organisations have started to reintroduce masks in all clinical settings even though national rules have largely been scrapped.
The news follows junior health minister Lord Kamall telling the House of Lords that the extortionate free lateral flow testing scheme may return as well as prospect of mandatory masks if the rising number of cases has an impact on the NHS backlog.
“They [health officials] are still focusing on the backlog. If it gets to a point where it is affecting the backlog then clearly measures may well have to be introduced,” said Kamall.
Masks were dropped in April after the government published new guidance to support the next stage of the government’s “Living with COVID-19” plan. In May, Sajid Javid, the former health secretary, told NHS trusts to drop restrictions in hospitals and also threatened to name and shame NHS trusts that do not ease the measures as it can limit operational capacity amid record waiting lists….