Coronavirus face coverings: our guidance for patients and visitors
Following new government guidance, from 15 June 2020, we’re asking all patients and visitors, including anyone attending an appointment or a clinic, to wear a face covering at all times when visiting our hospitals, and any services we provide in the community.
Please bring a face covering with you to wear when you enter the hospital, this can be a scarf, bandana, or a material or paper mask. We’ll provide a disposable mask if you don’t have anything that you can use as a covering.
Face coverings can help limit the spread of COVID-19 from people who may have the virus but do not have symptoms, it reduces the risk of you passing the virus on to others.
Take a look at our face covering advice poster
For the face covering to be effective, please follow our advice:
- Cover your nose and mouth, while allowing you to breathe comfortably
- Wash your hands or use hand sanitiser before putting it on and taking it off
- Always avoid touching your face while wearing the face covering
- Follow other infection control safety measures when visiting our hospitals, including social distancing and regular hand washing
For safety reasons, the following people do not need to wear a face covering when visiting our hospitals:
- Children under the age of 11 - Public Health England do not recommend face coverings for children under the age of 3 for health and safety reasons
- Anyone with breathing or developmental difficulties
- An unconscious person
- Anyone who experiences genuine discomfort or distress while wearing a face covering
- Pregnant women who have gone into labour
- Anyone unable to remove their mask without assistance
Debbie Fulton, Director of Nursing and Therapies at Berkshire Healthcare said, “We’d like to thank all our patients and visitors in advance for wearing a face covering when visiting our hospitals. This additional national measure is in place to help everyone stay safe and reduce the risk of infection. It remains really important to practice social distancing at all times, and wash your hands regularly. Thank you.”
Find out more
You can find out more information and guidance around coronavirus on our website
Read the latest guidance around coronavirus
If you're a patient with an appointment, or you're visiting someone at one of our wards, you can find the latest guidance in our dedicate COVID-19 area on our website