Question reference: S5W-31436
- Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 26 August 2020
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Current status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 14 September 2020
Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when clear Type IIR masks will be available for use in health and social care settings.
Answer
Currently there are no commercially available transparent masks that are approved for use in medical settings in Scotland. The Scottish Government recognise the potential role of transparent masks in clinical settings and has been working to explore options for transparent masks and face coverings.
On 5 August the UK Government announced the procurement of 250,000 transparent face masks from the company ClearMask for use in health and social care. These masks will be trialled in England in specific circumstances and feedback will be sought from users before any decisions about future procurement are made. NHS National Services Scotland will be carrying out a clinical evaluation of the ClearMask through the relevant channels in due course to determine if these masks are suitable for use in health and social care.
Scottish Enterprise recently awarded £50,000 of funding from their Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund (PERF) to an Edinburgh-based company to expand its production of face coverings to include coverings with transparent panes, which facilitate lip-reading. This company is being supported by the National Manufacturing Institute for Scotland (NMIS) to upgrade these face coverings to type IIR masks which are suitable for use in clinical settings. The company are currently working towards submitting the masks for the relevant testing that will allow for the certification of the masks for use in clinical environments.