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The Curse of Masks in Health and Social Care: Testimony From the Scottish Covid Inquiry

by Dr Gary Sidley
3 November 2024 1:00 PM

The U.K. Covid Inquiry – aka a hugely expensive façade striving to justify the dominant ‘pandemic’ narrative – is up and running again, and its chairperson, Lady Hallett, is continuing where she left off in her refusal to acknowledge any significant harms of mass masking. “Some might say getting an ulcer isn’t as bad as getting Covid” she quips during an interview with Dr. Susan Hopkins from the U.K. Health Security Agency. Thankfully, the Scottish Covid Inquiry has been much more open and impartial, as demonstrated by its willingness to address the profound negative consequences of wearing face coverings in health and social care settings. In particular, personal stories describing the dehumanising impacts upon care home residents have been truly harrowing – Lady Hallett could usefully incorporate these testimonies into her bedtime reading. 

One powerful example was the verbal evidence of Alison Walker, a former BBC sports presenter, who endured the trauma of both her parents residing in a care home in 2020. Alison witnessed the mental and physical deterioration of her mum and dad during the Covid event, and eloquently described the prominent role that masked caregivers played in this decline:

If you are surrounded by a group of people 24/7 wearing masks, and you don’t see people smile for up to two years, what kind of effect is that going to have on your mental health and wellbeing?

(5th video)

Surrounding residents of care homes with people wearing masks for such a long period had a huge impact on them, this in conjunction with isolating them from their loved ones and everything they know was catastrophic.

(8th video)

The devastating consequences of denying confused elderly people human connection – a synergy that is largely contingent on seeing the smiles and facial expressions of other people – was repeatedly endorsed by personnel representing frontline caring organisations. Thus, the closing statement to the Inquiry from ‘Care Home Relatives Scotland’ (a community group advocating for people who have loved ones in nursing and residential settings) included the damning conclusion:

The evidence demonstrated that the use of masks caused distress, confusion and considerable difficulties with communication. Residents couldn’t see smiles, had difficulty recognising relatives and those with hearing difficulties couldn’t lip-read or read facial expressions or visual clues. Some witnesses spoke to being made to wear them, even for window visits. Lucy Challoner said that her gran felt that people were laughing at her behind them.

(There seems to have been some formal recognition of these mask-related communication problems in 2021 when NHS Scotland spent over £5 million of taxpayers’ money on transparent masks, only for them to be subsequently deemed to be defective). 

Masks often resulted in visiting times degenerating into an especially frustrating experience, as indicated in the closing statement of ‘Independent Care Homes Scotland’ (a group comprising 12 independent care home operators). Regarding window/garden visits, they recalled:

…residents not being able to hear relatives properly during these types of visit due to physical barriers (window/masks) and/or distancing regulations… many residents did not understand why masks, for instance, were having to be worn or who suffered from poor hearing and/or who relied on lip reading to communicate. This often led to distress for residents …

Indoor visits at Homes were later permitted but again these were burdened with social distance and PPE wearing regulation which greatly affected residents, relatives and staff and which gave rise to awkward, unnatural and at times distressing encounters for all concerned.

Another service provider, ‘Central Scotland Care Homes’, also highlighted the insidious effect of masks on social interactions between residents and their loved ones:

Garden visits were described as being “horrendous” with no privacy. They were impractical in the Scottish climate and visitors had to shout to be heard while wearing masks and sitting two meters apart.

It was not only elderly residents with dementia who suffered from the mask mania operating within our health and social care sector. Younger people struggling with profound/multiple learning difficulties (PMLD) were also victims of this ideologically driven obsession:

The use of face masks caused concern because many people with PMLD could not tolerate face masks. Facial expression is a key method for communication. A mask makes it very difficult for a person with PLMD to see a supporter’s or carer’s facial expressions. Furthermore, masks could significantly compromise health where the user has respiratory issues.

And the harms of long-term mask wearing were not confined to those receiving care: the professional caregivers also experienced negative consequences. Suzanne Napier, a social care worker with Turning Point and a union representative, told the Inquiry about the physical symptoms she and her daughter endured as a direct result of prolonged mask wearing:

I never in my life had sinusitis before and I had it really… really badly and still at times suffer for it… I feel that had a real detrimental effect to myself and others… Even people within my family are suffering from it, regular sinusitis now… My daughter is a nurse… her face would be red raw… literally from wearing a mask.

These honest testimonies from people directly involved in looking after highly vulnerable service users vividly convey the profound harms of mask requirements in health and social care. Similarly damning are the experiences of clinical experts – captured in Smile Free’s upcoming short film, Masking Humanity – that vividly convey the enormous harms of masks in these settings. Those in positions of power and influence – such as Lady Hallett – should take heed of these personal accounts from those at the sharp end and do their bit to ensure that the blanket imposition of de-humanising face coverings never happens again. 

Dr. Gary Sidley is a retired NHS Consultant Clinical Psychologist and co-founder of the Smile Free campaign opposed to mask mandates. Subscribe to his Substack page.

[A special thank you to Dave, the independent researcher at BiologyPhenom, for his tireless efforts to publicise the Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry. This article relies heavily upon his sterling work.]
Tags: Care homesMask harmsMask MandatesPandemic ResponseScottish Covid inquiry

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19 Comments
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CGW
CGW
6 months ago

You still see individuals at airports and in the train wearing face masks. I recently had an appointment with a doctor who turned up wearing a mask. Presumably observing the horrified/disgusted look on my face, he quickly explained he had a cold and was ‘protecting’ his patients.

During my university days, you were always challenged to question everything and to discuss viewpoints at length, basically to educate yourself. Those days seem to be over.

7
0
Sforzesca
Sforzesca
6 months ago
Reply to  CGW

Children used to be taught how to think.
They’re now just told what to think.

12
0
RTSC
RTSC
6 months ago
Reply to  Sforzesca

Yup. It’s like the Spanish Inquisition has gained control of the world.

1
0
JohnK
JohnK
6 months ago
Reply to  CGW

I came across one at one of the large hospitals I went to for an outpatients department appointment. The employee wearing one was at the main entrance, but no-one else did after that. The practitioners that dealt with me didn’t want to talk about anything to do with the débacle a few years ago, and it all looked quite normal overall.

0
0
The old bat
The old bat
6 months ago
Reply to  CGW

You should try the oncology depth at any hospital. Mine had many people wearing (filthy looking) masks and wiping their seats before and after sitting on them – wipes are supplied. It’s just like 2020 still.

2
0
Gezza England
Gezza England
6 months ago
Reply to  CGW

The funniest thing is to see people wearing masks out in the open air.

4
0
CGW
CGW
6 months ago
Reply to  Gezza England

Or saddest. Worse are those masked while driving a car alone – although they are very seldom nowadays.

3
0
sam s.j.
sam s.j.
6 months ago
Reply to  CGW

saw one the other day they’re still here ! zombies

0
0
thechap
thechap
6 months ago
Reply to  Gezza England

Commonly known as ‘idiots’

4
0
Judy Watson
Judy Watson
6 months ago
Reply to  CGW

Actually I would be horrified at this Doctor – he should surely know by now that masks are ineefective at stopping the spread of airbourne viruses.

I would be seriously questioning his ability to practice.

2
0
JXB
JXB
6 months ago

“Some might say getting an ulcer isn’t as bad as getting Covid” she quips during an interview with Dr. Susan Hopkins…”

She should be given an ulcer and see what it’s like – particularly when it becomes malignant, invades a large area of the stomach and metastasises.

Useless, ignorant, mindless blob.

Last edited 6 months ago by JXB
9
0
Jon Garvey
Jon Garvey
6 months ago
Reply to  JXB

She may have meant an aphthous ulcer, I suppose. But if so, a painful mouth ulcer for a couple of weeks is a lot more inconvenient than a cold for five days.

In any case, she has rather avoided the question that, since masks have been shown not to protect from airborne viruses, the poor masked patient will be coping with both COVID and an ulcer.

1
0
Gezza England
Gezza England
6 months ago
Reply to  Jon Garvey

Agreed. They may be little things but they can really sap your energy.

1
0
Judy Watson
Judy Watson
6 months ago
Reply to  JXB

Talking of ulcers – what about the skin ulcers that turn out to be a cancer? Or the intractable leg ulcers, painful and chronic mouth ulcers. No doubt if I tried I could think of many more.

The Hallet enquiry was always going to be a whitewash and so it is proving to be.

0
0
MajorMajor
MajorMajor
6 months ago

Never wore a mask even though work mandated it. Got one of those sunflower lanyards and told people that I had a medical condition. HR asked me what it was but I told them that it was confidential medical information.
Somehow I got away with it, thank God.
The masks were entirely introduced to manipulate, intimidate and terrorize the population; a classic example of psychological warfare.

Last edited 6 months ago by MajorMajor
13
0
Just Stop it Now
Just Stop it Now
6 months ago
Reply to  MajorMajor

Of course I don’t know your circumstances and I understand that if masks “were mandated” you were protecting your job and your livelihood. But I felt/feel that wearing a lanyard under false pretences is really only a small step down from wearing the mask. Both are an affront to dignity.

Indeed I suspect many people wore a lanyard simply to avoid challenge when out in public….poor show!

The whole thing was all about obedience and compliance. Participation in any part of Covid Theatre is compliance. Next time (and there will be a next time) I hope it will be different

2
0
Jabby Mcstiff
Jabby Mcstiff
6 months ago

Possibly the most irrational measurer adopted by human beings, including educated people, in the history of humanity. Although the same neurosis took hold in previous pandemics. Not just the problems with the physics and the underlying theory but the idea that putting a mask on then shoving it in your pocket and then putting it back on is some sort of infection-control measure. One almost hopes that Darwin was right.

6
0
RTSC
RTSC
6 months ago

Hallet has one objective. To completely exonerate the evil barstewards who imposed the Covid Tyranny: it was all done “for the greater good” don’cha know.

2
0
LancashireLad
LancashireLad
6 months ago

I will never, ever forgive the bast*rds who did this to us.

1
0

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