Poll: Should hospital staff be allowed to wear full-face veils?
As it was revealed that full-face veils worn by staff at hospitals are to be at the centre of a new review, we ask if you think they should be permitted.
Health minister Dan Poulter said that face coverings can be a barrier to good communication between health care professionals and patients.
He has ordered a review of current advice and asked regulators to devise new uniform rules. It comes after Birmingham Metropolitan College reversed a ban on full-face veils.
Should hospital staff be allowed to wear full-face veils? Vote in our poll below:
"I am proud of the rich ethnic diversity of our health care workforce and support appropriate religious and cultural freedoms, but a vital part of good patient care is effective verbal and non-verbal communication," Dr Poulter said.
"Being unable to see a health care professional's face can be a barrier to good and empathetic communication with patients and their families.
"That is why I am writing to all health care regulators to ask them to look into this matter and to review their professional regulations, to ensure that there is always appropriate face to face contact between health care professionals and their patients."
A ban on staff wearing the full-face veil when dealing with patients has already been introduced at 17 NHS hospitals.
Earlier this week a judge ruled that a Muslim woman will be allowed to stand trial while wearing a full-face veil but must remove it while giving evidence. The ruling followed calls by Home Office Minister Jeremy Browne for a debate on whether the state should step in to prevent young women having the veil imposed on them.
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said he had a 'great deal of sympathy' for patients who do not want to be treated by a doctor or nurse wearing a veil but insisted the matter was one for individual hospitals.
