Scotland was slow to remove mask mandates in the general population. The legal requirement to wear a mask in public spaces became ‘guidance’ on April 18th 2022 but continued as a strong recommendation in health and social care settings. This policy was again reviewed in June but mask-wearing continued to be strongly recommended, meaning that many residents in care homes possibly never saw an unmasked face for over two years. However, a concerted campaign has – finally – achieved a change in policy that should end routine mask wearing in social care settings.
Prompted by the disappointing review in June, and after two years of frustrating and fruitless communication with health and social care organisations in Scotland on the subject of harms caused by mask-wearing, I reluctantly sent an open letter to CEOs of Scottish health and social care organisations on July 19th, imploring them to urgently challenge the Scottish Government to end illogical and harmful mask-wearing policies.
I received non-committal responses from statutory organisations but one CEO was honest enough to tell me he had neither the “authority nor governance” to challenge Government policy. This was surely the fundamental source of the problem and the reason why my communications had been received with resistance or silence (but, rarely disagreement). This CEO promised to communicate my concerns with the Scottish Government but was clearly unable to include a personal opinion or to dissent from the organisation’s position. Indeed, two other CEOs stated they had neither the time nor resources to engage in this debate but wished me well in “my campaign” and asked to be kept informed of progress.
However, Scottish Care and Alzheimer Scotland were quick to respond, both expressing agreement with the concerns I had raised and the need for a roundtable discussion with key stakeholders and Government officials. Subsequently, Alzheimer Scotland took a lead role in arranging a meeting, despite having no statutory role in the support and protection of adults or in workforce regulation.
The well-attended roundtable discussion was convened relatively quickly and took place on August 16th, chaired by Henry Simmons, CEO of Alzheimer Scotland. I attended in my role as an Independent Practitioner along with the following representatives:
- Care Home Relatives Scotland: three members, which included an individual campaigner;
- Alzheimer Scotland: three representatives, which included an Action on Rights adviser;
- The National Dementia Carers Action Network: two representatives;
- Scottish Care: Workforce Lead;
- The Care Inspectorate: Infection Prevention & Control Improvement Adviser;
- Scottish Government: five representatives which included policy, nursing & medical advisers.
Scottish Government officials considered it unnecessary for Public Health to be represented because it has no policymaking role. The Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland and the Scottish Social Services Council, both key statutory organisations in Scotland, were absent from this crucial debate – the first opportunity in over two years to have face-to-face discussion about harms caused by mask-wearing.
All credit to the Chair, who over two hours gave everybody fair opportunity to express their views, including powerful and moving testimonies from those with first-hand experience of the harms caused by mask-wearing. The two main areas of concern discussed were harms associated with mask-wearing and the limited evidence base being used to promote mask-wearing as an effective infection control measure.
The general consensus and recommendation on the harms caused by mask-wearing to both those impacted by hidden faces and to staff wearing them for lengthy periods was reflected in the meeting position statement. There was also consensus that removing masks would be a concern for some who would require support and reassurance if mask-wearing was to become a choice as opposed to a recommendation.
There was no consensus following the fairly heated debate around the evidence base which was identified as a critical issue in addressing concerns about removing masks, but this detailed discussion was not included in the position statement.
Three weeks later, on September 7th, the guidance was again updated, this time removing the recommendation for routine mask-wearing in social care settings; a huge relief for many. Specifically, the new guidance contained the following statements:
- “staff do not need to routinely wear a face mask or face covering at all times during their shift”
- “visitors to adult care homes and other settings do not need to wear a face mask or a face covering including in communal areas”
Bizarrely, having clearly identified harms, this update did not apply in healthcare where routine mask-wearing is still strongly recommended in most situations.
The updated guidance was, however, accompanied by promotional materials intended to alleviate anxieties around removing masks but instead appears to promote mask-wearing as a positive choice and an effective IPC measure with little reference to the benefits of removing masks as very clearly stated in the guidance document.
It is of course important to recognise that the Scottish Government has taken a very positive step in acknowledging that mask-wearing polices are detrimental to the health and wellbeing of those both giving and receiving care and support. Unfortunately, the refusal to acknowledge the absence of a robust evidence base has allowed the Scottish Government to promote masks as an effective infection control measure. Consequently, the guidance enables public health officials to demand their reintroduction at any point with infection control measures being assumed as priority over other clearly identified risks and actual harm caused.
It’s little wonder then that some care settings have been slow to remove masks when the prevailing message encourages them to believe that the risks of removing masks are likely to outweigh any benefit. This myth-based message also supports the continued use of masks in healthcare where there is still no acknowledgement of the harms that have been candidly acknowledged in social care.
By all accounts, the removal of masks in social care has been welcomed by the workforce and health and social care organisations, whose governance it seems prevented them from raising concerns with the Scottish Government, even when harms were so clearly documented. The health and social care workforce, along with organisations who have leadership and regulatory roles, are integral to our normally robust public protection system. If they had been supported to express concerns and engage in open and balanced debate with policymakers, inordinate suffering could have been addressed at source rather than regretted with hindsight.
Valerie Nelson is an independent Mental Health Trainer and Consultant.
Postscript: This article was fact-checked here. Valerie has written a response rebutting the claims in the fact check here.
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Same old story…
No more lockdowns! … well… until we want more lockdowns…
No plans for vaccination passports! … well… until we want vaccine passports…
This is why they refused to make it a criminal offence for MPs to mislead the public (https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/561730). Without lies, they wouldn’t get anywhere!
without lies they’d have nothing to say
Let’s hope the courts in the UK rule against the Johnson Gang
Courts Will Rule Against Biden on Vaccine Mandate Penalties: Alan Dershowitz
https://www.theepochtimes.com/mkt_morningbrief/courts-will-rule-against-biden-on-vaccine-mandate-penalties-alan-dershowitz_3993461.html?utm_source=morningbriefnoe&utm_medium=email2&utm_campaign=mb-2021-09-13&mktids=33de9f9c08142a21e91e56f801e2202f&est=z9Rp7%2Bgoa1ZPfQVqlpXkkfoDWLdVOGW0AiMiqWx8PS9jypTG0cp%2BLyuGtAtaR1GpAfTk
******
Upcoming events anti lockdown roadside events with the Big Boards to a Grand Stand in the Park
Monday 13th September 5pm
ZIO MAURI’s BIG BOARD NIGHT – anti lockdown roadside event
High St, ASCOT SL5 7HP
just before A330 Winkfield Road/A329 London Road
Wednesday 15th September 5.30pm Rebels on Roundabouts
Downshire Way, Bracknell RG12 7AA
near Premier Inn/Bracknell Fire Station
Saturday 2nd October 2pm GRAND STAND IN THE PARK BERKSHIRE
– with a couple of guest speakers and a stroll thought the town centre at the end
Reading River Promenade
Reading RG4 8BX
Stand in the Park Reading River Promenade Reading
Sundays from 10am
Telegram https://t.me/standindparkreading
Stand in the Park South Hill Park Bracknell –
Sundays from 10am
Wednesdays from 2pm
Make friends – keep sane
Telegram http://t.me/astandintheparkbracknell
If there was such a law, they’d so few MPs left they wouldn’t be able to form a cabinet, let alone a government.
Yes but why on earth are people still wearing masks not even”still” how did some stupid people convince masses of stupid people that a piece of paer of cloth will stop invisible particle from infecting ones self.IM STILL PUZZLED BY THE SMUGNESS I SEE ON A 22 YEAR OLD YOUNG MAN AS HE WANDERS AROUND THE TOWN WITH A MASK PULED UP TO HIS EYEBROWS LOOKING FOR ALL THE WORLD LIKE A TWAT WHOSE DOING IT TO BE DIFFICULT
Because people either do not care about the facts and just do what they’re told, or they are just looking at the mainstream news. This is a very big misinformation campaign, and people refuse to believe the media would outright lie.
Groupthink
You may find this article interesting https://www.ukcolumn.org/article/breaking-covid-trance-how-irish-people-were-psychologically-manipulated
Just the mere threat of covid passports should shame the scum that are this revolting Tory junta.
Sadly Baron Von Starmers Labour gang are no different….both report to the same boss, a very small yet very powerful global criminal elite who are orchestrating the global Covid Pantomime as a prelude to great global financial debt reset. It would be a brave leader who opposed these feudal scumbags. The previous labour leader (JC) tried and was crucified for his troubles.
.”Downing Street insisted, however….
who exactly in Downing Street?, no attribution, no truth.
The Cabinet Office runs the country. Not the Prime Minister. Especially not this Prime Minister.
Dissolve this rotten Parliament and arrest the perpetrators of this ongoing and inhumane psyop. Why do people listen to these masked-faced liars?
Believe nothing and trust no-one.
“But I’d expect to hear very soon what the CMOs have decided – and I’d expect them to say the vaccine programme can be rolled out for all over-12s.”
child sacrifice program going ahead
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-58542140
tHATS A BIT DRAMATIC ID SAY STAY FOCUSED FOR GODS SAKE MAN
“vaccination” against a virus to minors at no statistically significant risk of dying therefore – all “empirically decided by looking at a calendar with a red pen”
World class subterranean thinking.
I know a lot of us here think the constant vacillating over policy is evidence of psyops and an attempt to demoralise an exhausted population.
But I’m beginning to wonder where they have just completely lost control of the situation now and are lurching from crisis to crisis and headline to headline.
Either way, if their aim is to make the population respect the government and be prepared to be led by it, they’re not really succeeding.
I think it’s probably a mix of both, but also they were blatantly going to lose the vote, and they would’ve been dead and burtied. This way they can keep the threat going, and look like they are in control. “we’ve decided against it”. bollocks did you. you couldn’t do them.
They would only have lost a vote if Labour opposed. Very far from certain.
True, but there was a real risk it could happen, whereas up until now they’ve been able to rely on Starmer to agree to everything. That plus the likely dissent of an increasing number of their own MPs could have been enough to tip the balance – for now, at least.
I’m sure it (or probably worse – lockdowns) will be back once they’ve prepared the ground by whipping up hysteria about the remarkable fact that respiratory illnesses are more prevalent in winter.
Well that is what happens if you govern by newspaper headlines and opinion polls.
Nope. They are just.managing the global roll out of digital health passes for the world population.
That sort of project doesn’t get rolled out without the odd glitch. So a few pesky MPs have built a bit of heat around it? No problem, briefly pause and push on as soon as the conditions improve (a rise in “cases”).
I think they have a desperate need to obscure their impotence by creating a smokescreen of apparent activity. They are incapable of simply stating that they don’t have all the answers. Any answers.
They know they will be pretty much unenforceable in the real world but just like the idea of keeping the kiddies in fear.
My daughter attended an event over the weekend at which the promoter had mandated proof of vax or a negative test. 11 of her party used the same QR code! The staff just glanced at it and waved them on.
It’s all bollocks, like everything about this scamdemic.
In the future it won’t be staff who’s checking the QR codes, it will be electronic gates shipped by the government. No more cheating then.
Here we go again..FUD fear uncertainty and doubt, straight out of the Ladybird Book of Behavioural $cience. FFS!
The abusive relationship continues. What a surprise !
“No passports” then “passports” practically in the same breath, both stated with equal certainty (none, in other words). Just like “we don’t do lockdown in this country” and then “stay at home”; “schools are safe” and “schools are closed” on the same day. “We must reopen” and then “squeeeeeeeeeeeeze the brakes” last summer.
Keep the peasants well and truly confused, while committing to absolutely nothing.
Why are you wearing a mask Mr. Johnson?
…it’s traditional among thieves.
He doesn’t want his nice white shirt stained by the crap that dribbles from his mouth.
Bingo. Real headline :
‘Rationalists proved right yet again in sussing government double-speak’
When the annual NHS (The Envy of the World) winter crisis arrives, we can expect these to pop up as the solution.
Gas lighting, flip-flopping, lying, more lies, half-truths, back to flip-flopping…is anyone keeping up, or listening anymore? It’s just noise now.
Yada yada yada..
Seinfeld fan?
Check out the T&C’s if you are thinking of buying a ticket for any event, you’ll find there are several hoops you’ll have to jump through already, if you want to get in.
Boris the weathervane. Changes his mind constantly and breaks his promises. A waste of time listening to a word he says.
Wait until Boris comes back from the States. Enforced draconian measures will be a prerequsite for any collaboration.
The rise of decent political parties to replace our corrupt and evil established ones (“Conservative”, “Labour”, LibDem, Green, SNP, etc) does seem to have begun. Reform and Reclaim (and perhaps Heritage as well) have begun the move back towards reason and decency, hopefully.
Martin Daubney [Reclaim Party]: THE GOVERNMENT HAS HAD MORE POSITIONS ON VACCINE PASSPORTS THAN THE KAMA SUTRA
“I don’t believe Sajid Javid, I don’t believe Boris Johnson, I don’t believe the Vaccine Minister on anything they say about vaccine passports”
Reform look good on paper…
Better late than never but all the ground they ceded by not pushing back sooner is going to difficult to reclaim. They will be starved of oxygen by the media so it will be months before their online presence is felt but no doubt the idiots will use BigTech and get unpersoned.
I like Kurten’s Heritage Party. All of them should have formed a Freedom Council months ago. There is no leadership to our cause and I fear there will be no resistance to passport exorbitances soon.
Plenty of time for them to shake out. These things will resolve over years and decades, not months.
Granted we might not have years before the coming economic chaos plunges us into “emergency rule”, probably under a Blairite Party of National Unity, for the duration……
Lockdowns, masks and the whole senseless shebang … all based on a minor but stratospherically ramped-up threat. As shown by the true figures compiled from FOI requests courtesy of this hard-working investigator.
https://mobile.twitter.com/TheRustler83/status/1436583453315813379?s=20
Thanks for the info sceptic scot. 164 deaths where covid cited as sole cause in NI – yet BBC and other NI news media trumpets the figures as in excess of 3000. Just last week NISRA – the agency which in response to that FOI request admitted there was a total of 164 covid only deaths – stated there were 64 deaths from covid in the previous 7 days. Lies, damned lies and statistics. It is therefore no surprise that the people around me are scared witless by this thing and are almost afraid to go outside their own front doors, and see no end of it in sight – a neighbour told me yesterday they take weekly lateral flow tests. I have not taken a single test – PCR or lateral flow and am not worried at all about covid even though, by rights, I probably should be. All are worried about people being in hospital ‘with covid’ – they should be asking themselves the questions A) what underlying conditions do they have B) where did they get that covid infection – in a hospital??? C) what treatment are they getting? and, more pertinently, D) what role double jabbing has played in all of this – will the ADE generate more hospitalisations and deaths among the jabbed which will serve [deliberately???] to keep us in a perpetual pandemic state [albeit one we are being told we have to “live with” (to keep the costs down don’t you know)] with permanent restrictions which fluctuate in severity according to the season?????
And this is precisely what MC/TY should be linking to every day – this sort of information is not corruptible – and impossible to deny either – come on MC/TY, “Get your act together and set up a FoI response tab” – “fact checkers” nightmare. Please tick up if you want to see this link set up.
The governments behaviour and intent, including the deliberate flip flopping is fully explained in this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09maaUaRT4M
The behaviour of this government is fully explained by this excellent video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09maaUaRT4M.
We have to take every system that comes out of these would be tyrants and learn how to subvert it.
Goodness me; what a surprise.
Does rather make me lol that this site calls itself the whatever sceptic and then swallows whole the bilge pumped out into and by the msm.
So one day later and the policy is reversed. If you are going to rule arbitrarily by decree, at least get a stylish uniform and some facial hair.
It’s quite clear what they are doing – aside from the amateur hour psy-ops (hint: it doesn’t work if everyone has worked out that that is what you are doing)
The roll out of vaccine to young people is going to make a lot of young people very, very sick this winter. So they need an excuse why that is happening. And of course it will be that all these young people have caught it in the nightclubs where unvaccinated people have been allowed to go in unchecked.
Oh no – they warned us we needed vax passports, now we see why. Let’s force everyone to submit to a lifetime of boosters and the forced consumption of pharmaceuticals at the whim of the government in order to be able to participate in society, without any chance of opting out, in perpetuity. It’s the right thing to do.
yes, it is odd to see the news today about boosters being rolled out alongside the news that vaccine passports won’t be introduced – how do they plan to get people to take them up without the coercion??
It’s not about the virus, it never was!!
https://twitter.com/i/status/1437382199163117568
I’d like to say What a fucking useless tool but I’ve reserved that for Scott Morrison.
Kim Jong Johnson is far worse than useless, he is a great fat communist fraud.
What a surprise! (not).
They want us all to be kept on our toes, guessing what will happen and be players in a game we didnt want to partake in.
That was an old KGB tactic to keep citizens hopes up then demolish them again and again until you are beyond caring and objecting to stupid regulations.
This shows that they don’t actually want “vaccine” passports, but they desperately want the threat that they will introduce them. Evil and possibly illegal coercion.
This is the watershed lie. The conpiracy is REAL.
You don’t say, after all, it’s completely out of character for great fat communist fraud Kim Jong Johnson to make rapid-fire, contradictory pronouncements….
How can these vaccine passports even be a “first-line defence” if the vaccines are leaky and the vaccinated can spread the virus?
It’s amusing when they talk about them as a ‘wall of immunity’ (that seems to be an approved soundbite). A more apt analogy would be a torn and ripped fishing net.
Sounds like we are in for more of the usual tactics – vicious restrictions enacted by statutory instrument the evening before they come into effect (and for good measure repeatedly amending the same statutory instrument rather than issuing new ones – this tactic makes it as difficult as possible to follow what the rules are this week).
Easy to see how it’s likely to play out – when cases of respiratory viruses start to rise, as they do every winter (it doesn’t matter specifically what viruses they are – they will all be labelled as ‘Covid’ now), the whipping-up of hysteria in the media will go on for a week or two, then when it’s reached fever pitch (probably just after the decline in cases has started), he will “with a heavy heart”, “alas” have to order everyone to hide at home behind the sofa and wear face nappies all the time (even when having a fuck – https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/love-sex/coronavirus-sex-advice-face-mask-kissing-social-distancing-sexual-health-a9664161.html). Probably also go one further than Vaxxports, and just shut all nightclubs yet again, along with pubs and any shops which aren’t supermakets.
It’s all so predictable, but the sheeple are so compliant and unquestioning that they will just accept it yet again!
All smoke and mirrors from those in charge. I was expecting this, though not so quickly as one day. Notice how the lockdowns consigned to the dustbin also lasted one day as well – every ‘we’re getting rid of X or Y COVID authoritarian law/regs’ is then qualified with a ‘subject to Z criteria for the next few months’.
As someone once famously said: “Yeah, but no”.
These vax passports are coming back 100% since they are the key element in the ID2020 program. Way more important than the actual vaccines.
My daughter started at the local college today and reported that approx 80% of students were not wearing masks, yay
This is a government that uses psychological abuse to control the public – let me tell you that abusers never change – their actions and words are carefully chosen and calculated – they’ll pretend to change but don’t believe it for a second – its a carefully orchestrated act to lure the intended victim into a false sense of security just before the abuse begins again – do you get that sense of unease although things seem to be looking up again? That sense of anxiety that even though the government says one thing you feel that something sinister is lurking just around the corner and is going to leap out at you when you least expect it. Like you’re just waiting for the abuse to begin again. This is a government that uses the tactics of the abuser – this is a tyrannical government. No matter what this government says it can never be believed again – it has lost all trust – its not good enough to make promises anymore – this sense of impending doom everytime this governments makes an announcement will not go away until this evil PM and his tyrannical government is removed.
Spot on. But their removal would only usher in more puppets. The BoE/”Crown”/City/FedReserve/BIS aka parasitic class run the puppets – these need removal.
Absolutely! Well said. My thoughts have turned to how to counter this seemingly untouchable government. They have the right to govern of course due to the election results, arguable though that may be, but we all know they are not fit to govern. In a few years time, we have the opportunity to vote them out but without a solid opposition and with the media firmly behind them, I very much doubt this could happen and anyway all the damage would have been done already and maybe they would have made it virtually impossible to vote them out through boundary changes and a fairly toothless Electoral Commission. Protests meanwhile are being made illegal and with the masses still asleep, it looks like public unrest is not going to work either. My feelings are that grassroots activism is our civic duty as well as mass civil disobedience – we need more to make this work. My hopes are that Johnson tires of his responsibilities of office, not that he is actually doing that much work, starts yearning all the riches to be made in the private sector, resigns and allows another shyster into power who is easier to undermine and remove. I guess everything and anything is possible. One day, if things continue like they are, all those millions who go along with what they read in the paper or watch on the telly will have a short sharp awakening but what they actually do is altogether another thing.
I am equally sad to reflect that if BJ goes off to be the bag carrier for the new head of the UN Committee of Eco GreenWashing Theory ( sponsored by GOOP no doubt) – who else will arise Phoenix like to replace him….
I am sad to have to say I agree with every word.
The current goal is to convince large parts of population that showing your entry pass is “not a big deal”. That’s also why the vaccinations (really: stamping the passes) are pushed on to groups that don’t need vaccination – because it’s much easier to convince someone that checking a pass is “not a big deal” if they have it, rather than when they don’t. It also serves to justify the checking of such passes “since almost everyone has the pass, the control measures are proportionate and not a big deal”. Not that lax control and stuff like self-exemptions also serves the same purpose, “not a big deal, these things are not really checked”. All this is to make people swallow all these new restrictions, which can be subsequently made more and more draconian simply based on prior acceptance, by introducing new laws and fool-proof surveillance technology.
I see that utter nob, Kneel Stammer has said they’re a pretty good idea! Whatever happened to Labour? Bring back Michael Foot.
Starmer’s clothes are smarter but not the rest of him
Theatre. Politics. Psychopaths. They are all now in too deep. This is our ‘window of opportunity’ as Klaus Schwab might say… bring on the tumbrels. No Mercy. Information, resources and useful links: https://www.LCAHub.org/
Flip-flop, good cop, bad cop routines in full effect. These twisted, lying snakes should never be taken at their word. How do you know when a politician is lying…
First line of defence…?
Really, how about First Line of Attack.
Constant threats to keep Project Fear alive…
The government is desperate to get the last 20% jabbed, but how to do it? Logically they would need to metaphorically tar and feather the 20%. At present the unjabbed can go around undercover except for their GPs who know. Mine looks at me with a jaundiced eye. You must comply! A brave government would let the 20% go and unlock
Christ, I wasn’t even done telling you so before I got to say that I told you so.
This is how you break a dog’s spirit and drive it mad, by the way. Random treatment, switch between reward and punishment without rhyme or reason.
Are humans very different?
Each of the Gov. ministers in the Guido video, linked ATL, plus most of the others, would be immensely improved in their life status by the skillful and repeated application of a large blunt object to their craniums.
RE: the Guido Fawkes compilation: Zadawi stated regarding if the Government would be introducing “vaccine passports”, he said “No we’re not ….vaccines not mandated in this country….Boris Johnson has quite rightly reminded Parliament that’s not how we do things in this country, we do things by consent”
He is going to regret that forever.