News OnTheWight can reveal that the Hampshire, Southampton and Isle of Wight CCG has advised GP surgeries, dentists, etc that they ask patients to wear face coverings when visiting, and for staff to wear fluid resistant surgical face masks.
As yet this move does not include St Mary’s Hospital, despite other hospitals, such as Southampton, this week deciding to bring back mandatory face coverings for patients. Isle of Wight NHS Trust say their policy on face masks and on visitor access is being regularly reviewed.
New IW Covid wave
Earlier in the week, Isle of Wight council urged residents and visitors to stay safe as a new Covid-19 wave hits the Island.
The latest data published by News OnTheWight today reveals 591 new confirmed positive Covid tests in the last week on the Isle of Wight.
Call for masks in hospital setting
Last weekend News OnTheWight ran a Open Letter last weekend from an immunosuppressed patient who pleaded with Darren Cattell, CEO of the IW NHS Trust, to make face coverings mandatory to protect the clinically extremely vulnerable immunosuppressed patients.
St Mary’s needs to be a safe place for all of us, everywhere
On hearing the news about Southampton Hospital reintroducing face coverings, the News OnTheWight reader who shared their Open Letter, told us,
“The mask policy at St Mary’s needs to be hospital-wide, not just a few departments.
“Immunosuppressed people are treated in all departments at St Mary’s, for their cancer, organ transplants or autoimmune diseases – and many of us also have unrelated medical conditions which require doctors’ appointments in any department and need trips to A&E, diagnostic imaging, pathology, etc., like anyone else.
“We need other people to wear masks to protect us, because the vaccines did not work well for some of us, and also for those Clinically Extremely Vulnerable people whose vaccines are wearing off, Covid could also radically worsen our existing medical problems.
“St Mary’s needs to be a safe place for all of us, everywhere, all of the time. Right now most of the departments are unsafe with so many maskless people. We can catch Covid from unmasked people, particularly from their coughing and sneezing.”
Image: Ani Kolleshi under CC BY 2.0
