"Lack of mask enforcement"

Yesterday I attended PTU at the Royal Victoria Hospital for an IV infusion. I've been classed as clinically extremely vulnerable due to being on immunosuppressants and my underlying complex health issues. 

On entering I was relieved to see a sign saying it was an "Amber Area" and PPE was required, but it turned out that only the staff wore masks, because I ended up in a room with three other patients having infusions. I was in the department for almost three hours and none of whom wore masks for the whole time. 

While obs were done including temperature checks, given that people can be infectious while asymptomatic, it seemed really unsafe for all these patients to be sitting there unmasked in a smallish room for hours on end - particularly given that PTU is actually where patients like myself go for immunosuppressant treatments, so by definition there's a lot of vulnerable people there. It sends out a very confusing message when I keep seeing signs up everywhere in Trust premises, and advice on social media from Belfast Trust accounts, saying that we're all supposed to be masked and take all precautions while visiting our hospitals.

I understand that some people are exempt from wearing masks - I myself am actually exempt due to one of my conditions, and when masked I struggle a lot more with sensory issues and communication difficulties, but I still wear a mask to try to avoid getting Covid or becoming part of a chain of transmission to my elderly mum. I was having a difficult time at hospital that day and feeling vulnerable, so I did not feel able to raise the issue with the staff as I was sitting among the patients who weren't in masks, and my experience is that when you raise concerns like this in general these days, you are treated as the bad guy by the people who won't wear them, and as I've said, I was going to be stuck there with them for a few hours so I couldn't afford to become the lightning rod for any conflict. 

The staff were all really great that day in terms of my treatment and I'm not trying to get them into trouble, but I am struggling to understand the confusing messaging from the Trust on masks. I did not feel safe in the department that day, which is very concerning. I feel that it is being assumed that vulnerable people have all had our boosters, whereas I've had trouble getting mine booked and will not be able to get it until next week. And even when fully vaccinated, we know that breakthrough infections occur, and that even a mild case of Covid can result in Long Covid. The official designation of CEV may have been retired, but I still have exactly the same medical vulnerabilities. When you already have various complex conditions, including one that causes fatigue, Long Covid is something you want to avoid at all costs, so it worries me that decisions about masks in hospital are being made based on the assumption that it's not so bad these days if someone does get Covid - to say nothing of the fact I keep seeing Trust posts on social media about the increased pressure on our hospitals at the moment.