Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the pilot by his Department of transparent face masks for use by NHS staff and care workers, which types of transparent masks have been approved; and for which settings the use of those masks has been approved.

The ClearMask transparent mask used in the pilot undertaken in September has received approval from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for use during the COVID-19 pandemic and can be used in the National Health Service supply chain in healthcare settings, subject to a number of limitations. It is currently the only transparent mask that has been approved.

A transparent mask working group has been set up by NHS England and NHS Improvement. They are producing a new technical specification which gives testing, design and performance requirements for single-use transparent face masks which are intended to provide comparable protection to that of a Type IIR medical mask. It is intended that the technical specification, which has been informed by clinical usability assessments, can be used as part of the assessment of a broader scope of transparent facemask products. The technical specification will be published online once completed.

Work is also underway to evaluate Type IIR transparent masks for procurement, which will be assessed against the prevailing Type IIR standards.