The masks are see-through and have an anti-fogging
barrier to ensure the face and mouth are always visible
to help doctors, nurses and carers communicate better
with their patients.
With around 12 million people in the UK thought to have
hearing loss, the masks will be invaluable for people
who need to lip-read to communicate during the ongoing
response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and
beyond.
The masks will also help those who rely on facial
expressions to support communication. For example,
people with learning disabilities, autism or dementia,
or foreign language speakers and their interpreters.
The new deal with US-based company ClearMask will see
250,000 masks delivered to NHS trusts and social care
providers across the UK over the next few weeks.
Minister for Care
said:
Everyone using our remarkable health and care system
deserves the best care possible and communication is
a vital part of that.
This pandemic has posed numerous challenges to the
sector, so we are always on the hunt for simple
solutions to support those giving and receiving care.
The introduction of clear face masks will help
overcome some of the difficulties carers wearing
PPE are facing
communicating with people who rely on lip-reading. If
this proves a success I look forward to increasing
the supply to make sure whenever a clear mask is
needed, there is one available.
This applies across the whole of the UK and the
government is working with the devolved administrations
on allocations of the masks. The first delivery has
already been distributed to NHS trusts, with further
deliveries over the next couple of weeks.
Social care providers will also have access to the
masks through a new pilot system with Local Resilience
Forums.
The Department of Health and Social Care and NHS
England and Improvement will continue to work closely
with suppliers on future orders based on demand.
The clear masks have met the government’s strict safety
standards and will be rolled out to frontline workers
over the next few weeks.
The government has delivered over 3 billion pieces of
personal protective equipment (PPE) to the
frontline and are working with around 130 new
companies, including Royal Mint, Honeywell, Amazon and
Royal Mail, to rapidly manufacture, source or
distribute PPE at scale and
pace.
This follows a national and international call to arms
in April asking industry to channel their manufacturing
power into making PPE for the
health and care sector.
Roger Wicks, Director of Policy and Campaigns at Action
on Hearing Loss, said:
We welcome the procurement of clear face masks, which
has the potential to improve the accessibility of
health and social care services for those who rely on
seeing facial expressions and lip-reading to
communicate, including people who are deaf or have
hearing loss.
Since the outbreak of coronavirus, people have told
us continually that they are worried about
communicating in health and social care settings
where face masks are now in constant use. We know
that clear masks have the ability to reduce barriers
for both patients and staff across the NHS and social
care services.
People need to understand the information and
instructions that they are given by health and care
professionals: ineffective communication and
misunderstandings have the potential to harm the
health and wellbeing of people with hearing loss.
We hope that different services across the NHS and
social care are able to access clear masks and
effectively match them to patient need. It will also
be important that these masks are complemented by
effective communication tips and deaf awareness among
staff to ensure that people with hearing loss get the
support they need.
Professor Andrew Goddard, Royal College of Physicians
President, said:
The necessary use of face masks to protect staff and
patients has made communication difficult. It’s
particularly true for clinicians and patients who are
deaf or have a hearing loss and rely on being able to
read lips.
Clear communication is always important, but
particularly in healthcare. So we’re pleased these
masks are going to be available very soon.
Of course, lip-reading doesn’t work for everyone, nor
is it everyone’s first choice. It’s important that
all NHS employers and services find out what
someone’s communication needs are and meet them, in
line with the Accessible Information Standard.
Sarah White, Head of Policy and Campaigns at national
disability charity Sense, said:
The last few months have been particularly hard on
disabled people and a part of this are the barriers
that PPE brings to
many of them in terms of their communication. While
PPE is of
course vital in keeping everyone safe during this
pandemic, many disabled people rely on lip-reading
and facial expression to communicate, which means
masks present themselves as a big challenge.
We’ve therefore been delighted to work with the
Department of Health and Social Care and other
organisations to raise awareness of this issue and we
welcome the introduction of clear masks for use in
frontline health and social care services, which will
benefit millions of disabled people in this country.
While clear masks won’t work for everyone and they
can still present a challenge to some people, it
certainly is a great first step which should be part
of a clear and cohesive strategy for how we ensure
that health and care services remain clinically safe
at the same time as enabling disabled people to
communicate and feel safe.
Allysa Dittmar, President of ClearMask, said:
As a company that was started in 2017 in a response
to the need for improved, visual communication for
the deaf and hard of hearing community, we
immediately understood the critical need for such
see-through, transparent masks during this pandemic
for many different groups of people.
We were proud to help answer the call for critical
PPE for the
NHS, and this partnership is a reflection of the hard
work and dedication of many individuals involved in
the push for better accessibility and care during
this time.
