Dr Safri, a Dentist based in Hampshire, said 'Singh Thattha' technique also helps overcome crucial cost and supply issues associated with high-level PPE.
A UK research team's innovative beard covering technique, dubbed as the "Singh Thattha", which enables bearded medics to wear a well-fitting respirator mask while on frontline COVID-19 duties without the need for shaving has proved effective in initial trials.
The team, led by
Professor Randhawa from University of Bedfordshire and Dr Rajinder Pal
Singh, sought to work on a solution following numerous calls by Public Health
England (PHE) to protect doctors from ethnic minorities, including Sikh, Jewish
and Muslim communities, who tend to have beards for religious reasons.
"Because
shaving was a mandatory pre-requisite for wearing respirator masks, many
members of the faith-observant bearded community, such as Sikh, Jewish and
Muslim, have been affected and have had to face the dilemma of redeployment
from frontline healthcare jobs involving exposure to COVID-19," said
Randhawa, Professor of Diversity in Public Health at the University of
Bedfordshire and Director of the university's Institute for Health Research.
Manchester-based transplant surgeon Dr Rajinder Pal Singh came up with the idea of using an under-mask beard cover, or a beard band traditionally referred to as the 'thattha' by Sikhs, to allow him to wear an FFP3 respirator mask – an essential personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline medics – and his innovation ended up passing the National Health Service (NHS) qualitative Fit Test.
According to the University of Bedfordshire, an initial trial meant that there appeared to be a choice – that shaving may not be essential to don a respirator mask.
The partnership
between Prof. Randhawa and Dr Singh led to an in-depth study of the
promising and innovative alternative.
https://www.newindianexpress.com/world/2020/nov/17/uk-team-trials-singh-thattha-to-protect-bearded-doctors-on-covid-frontline
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