10 January 2023

Update on mask wearing and IPC guidance for care home settings in England

COVID-19 England

The Department of Health and Social Care has recently issued updated guidance on mask wearing in care homes in England.

You can now make risk-based decisions on when face masks are used, and care homes can initiate their own outbreak risk assessments to make decisions about which outbreak measures make sense for their individual settings. This now means that the College guidance relating to face coverings is the same in primary care and care home settings in England. Universal masking remains in place in all settings in Scotland. 

Latest surveillance from UKHSA suggests that levels of flu and COVID-19 are increasing, so it is vital you continue to maintain high standards of infection prevention controls to keep settings safe and reduce the risk of transmission. 

What the Guidance says

Section B39 in the Guidance for Professional Practice states that you should wear a Fluid Resident Surgical Face Mask (FRSM Type IIR) when: 

  1. Performing procedures when in close proximity to the patient
  2. You consider there is a risk of respiratory infection
  3. There is a public health requirement to wear one, such as during a pandemic, unless the mask type specified by the relevant national or local public health guidance recommends an alternative specification and level of protection.

Useful links

This article was correct at time of publication. 

Related news

College supports new road safety campaign
Driving and vision Public health

College research highlights potential damage to eye health due to increased cost of living
Public health

Public urged to wear their glasses for night driving
Driving and vision Public health

Related further reading

Twenty-three years travelling on the optometric ‘Yellow Brick Road’

For the very last issue of Optometry in Practice, Professor Jonathan Jackson MCOptom reflects on the past two decades of the journal and its contribution to our learning.

Children Contact lenses COVID-19 Glaucoma

Molecular biology of two common ophthalmic viruses: relevance to clinical practice

This paper describes how viruses infect, reproduce and damage cells. Knowing this process is critical for understanding how to treat ocular viral infections.

COVID-19 Public health

Behind the headlines - summer 2023

Eye health issues that are making the news.

Children COVID-19 Medical retina Public health Research