Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the modified guidance from the World Health Organisation that, where available, respirators should be considered for wider use in healthcare settings; and whether he plans to facilitate a wider use of respiratory protective equipment, such as FFP3 respirators, in high risk healthcare settings outside of those procedures designated as aerosol generating.

The official guidance ‘COVID-19: Guidance for the remobilisation of services within health and care settings, Infection prevention and control recommendations’ sets out the personal protective equipment (PPE) that is needed in health and care settings.

The recommendations in the guidance, which was updated on 21 January, are agreed by an expert group of clinicians and scientists from across all four nations of the United Kingdom, based on the latest clinical evidence and are kept under constant review. They remain aligned with other international agencies including the World Health Organization in the use of PPE, which includes FFP3 respirators or equivalent.

The guidance covers all patient facing roles. Its implementation should be underpinned by local risk assessments that take into consideration the patient, environment, procedure and task being undertaken by any member of health care staff. This will include PPE and the use of FFP3 respirators and eye/face protection.