The government did not consult NHS leaders or give them notice before a decision to make all hospital staff wear surgical masks from 15 June, senior healthcare chiefs have said.
Chris Hopson, the chief executive of NHS Providers, said healthcare workers believe last-minute decisions are being made on the hoof because of political rather than public health considerations and that announcements were being made to “fill the space” at the Downing Street coronavirus briefings.
His intervention comes after the health secretary, Matt Hancock, said on Friday that all hospital visitors and outpatients in England would have to wear face coverings, and that hospital staff must use surgical masks from the middle of the month, despite the government previously saying the evidence that face masks prevented the spread of Covid-19 was inconclusive.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Saturday, Hopson said: “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.”
He said politicians should realise the NHS is not able to “turn on a sixpence” and that rushed announcements could hinder doctors and nurses in doing their job properly.
Q. How, as a Government, do you really irritate NHS trust CEOs at the end of another difficult, busy, hard, week? A. Announce two major operational policy changes on visiting and PPE usage at 1700 on a Friday afternoon without any notice or consultation. They are not amused!
— Chris Hopson (@ChrisCEOHopson) June 5, 2020
“Trust leaders tell us it’s part of a systematic pattern where there isn’t enough strategy or planning,” he said. “They’re not being involved and consulted on the key decisions and that it feels like last-minute decisions are being made on the hoof that seem overly influenced by politics and the need to fill the space at the Downing Street press conferences.
“Everybody recognises when we started this pandemic back in March there were going to need to be a number of very quick decisions that were made and people were happy to go with the flow.
“But here we are three months later, where we really need to get into a proper, sensible forward plan and forward strategy of what we’re trying to do, where trusts are given the time and space they need to do complex and difficult things.”
Hopson said there was a frustrating pattern to the government’s policymaking. “Six days ago, the advice on shielding patients completely changed overnight and a whole bunch of patients started ringing up GPs and saying ‘how does this affect me? What’s the difference now?’,” he said.
“GPs knew nothing about these changes, the first they heard of them was when they were announced, and they were frustrated.”
Hopson’s deputy, Saffron Cordery, also said trusts had received little or no consultation before the face masks announcement, which had left them scrambling to find enough equipment to cater for hospital staff, patients and visitors.
A health department spokeswoman said members of the public were strongly urged to wear a face covering when attending hospital, but that no one would be denied care and masks would be provided by the hospital if necessary.
The World Health Organization said on Friday that people should wear masks wherever physical distancing may be hard, including in shops, at work and in other closed settings such as places of worship.
The WHO had been reluctant to advocate for the public to wear face coverings because of limited evidence that they offer protection.