Responding to the announcement regarding masks for NHS staff and lifting visiting restrictions, NHS Providers deputy chief executive Saffron Cordery said:

"Trusts know better than anyone how vital it is to do all they can to protect patients and the staff caring for them.

"Tonight's announcement of compulsory mask wearing for all NHS staff working in any part of a hospital is clearly designed to help to ensure that both staff and patients are protected and feel safe.

"But, as is the case for a number of announcements throughout the pandemic, this has come with little or no consultation with the NHS frontline and without a plan in place to ensure that all trusts will have access to adequate supplies of type one and two masks.

"Alongside the requirement to provide masks for all staff, trusts have also learnt tonight that some of the patient visiting restrictions will also be lifted from the 15 June.

"We know that trusts want to do all they can to ensure that patients can have contact with their loved ones while in hospital, but there is understandably nervousness and concern about opening up visiting too quickly.

"Trusts need time to put in place  processes and guidance to ensure that patients can receive visitors safely and while adhering to social distancing and infection control measures.

"Important decisions like these should not come as a surprise to those expected to deliver them."