NHS Trust steps down additional mask wearing measures at East Sussex hospitals
The East Sussex NHS Trust has stepped down additional mask wearing measures at its hospitals.
The statement comes after it had urged staff, patients and visitors to wear masks following a rise in Covid and flu cases in December.
A spokesperson for the Trust, which runs Eastbourne District General Hospital, Conquest Hospital in Hastings and Bexhill Hospital, said the ‘precautionary measures’ were put into place to ‘reduce the risk of onward transmission of these viruses to protect our staff and patients’.
However, due to a ‘reduction in flu and respiratory cases presenting at its Emergency Departments’, the trust announced on Tuesday (January 27) that the measures would be stepped down.
A spokesperson said: “With the reduction in flu and respiratory cases presenting at our Emergency Departments, we are stepping down our enhanced mask wearing measures for patients, visitors and staff at our hospitals.
“Patients and visitors are no longer asked or expected to wear masks in our Emergency Departments or routinely on our wards.
“Patients and visitors who wish to wear masks are still welcome to do so if they wish. Routine NHS procedures for wearing masks as part of regular PPE when delivering care to patients and in areas with high risks of transmission remain in place.”