Sign up now for ease of access to The Medical Independent, Ireland’s most frequently published medical newspaper, delivering award-winning news and investigative reporting.
Established in 2010, along with its sister publication The Medical Independent, our stated aim is to investigate and analyse the major issues affecting healthcare and the medical profession in Ireland. The Medical Independent has won a number of awards for its investigative journalism, and its stories are frequently picked up by national digital, broadcast and print media. The Medical Independent is published by GreenCross Publishing.
Address: Top Floor, 111 Rathmines Road Lr, Dublin 6
Tel: 353 (01) 441 0024
GreenCross Publishing is owned by Graham Cooke.
The HSE has defended its guidance on when healthcare workers (HCWs) should use respirator masks in the pandemic, which differs from the position of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
The ECDC recommends HCWs use respirator masks when caring for patients with confirmed or suspected Covid-19 (or medical masks, if this stock is unavailable), but the HSE recommends respirator masks only when aerosol-generating procedures (AGPs) are required.
According to the ECDC, it is unclear whether respirator masks provide better protection than medical face masks against other coronaviruses and respiratory viruses, such as influenza. However, the Centre noted that a recent systematic review and meta-analysis estimated respirators may have a stronger protective effect than medical face masks.
A HSE spokesperson said its guidance is based on an assessment that Covid-19 is “in most circumstances” a contact- and droplet-transmitted infection and “the evidence that surgical masks offer equivalent protection to respirator masks in this context”.
“There are differences in international guidance on this issue,” said the spokesperson. “In training webinars delivered by the national team, this is clearly and openly acknowledged and discussed, and the fact that it causes uncertainty and anxiety for healthcare workers is acknowledged.”
The Health Protection Surveillance Centre guidance is aligned to that of the World Health Organisation on the use of masks. The HSE spokesperson also emphasised that mask-wearing “is only one element of the IPC [infection prevention and control] precautions required”.
The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) confirmed that this part of HSE guidance had been “brought to our attention”. The HSA continues to engage with the HSE “on the current advice on infection prevention control measures”. See news feature, p4-5.
HIQA will be examining ‘transitions of care’ as part of its revised methodology for monitoring...
Tallaght University Hospital (TUH) has deployed a new electronic patient record (EPR)...
The ICGP is examining alternative pathways for entry into general practice training as part of efforts...
In December, the HSE released part of an external review into the case of 'Brandon', a...
The evidence on doctor burnout “should scare us and concern us”, the Director of the RCSI...
A review of public health governance structures and addressing “longstanding” IT infrastructure...
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.