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Prof Raymond Agius

@profraymondagius.bsky.social
1.5K followers 618 following 126 posts

Professor Emeritus: Occ. & Env. Medicine (Univ. of Manchester). Doctor ex 40 yrs NHS. British Medical Association Council Member. #COVIDisAirborne. #ProEU 🇪🇺 🇬🇧🇫🇷🇮🇹🇲🇹🇪🇦 polyglot. Xited (was @ProfEmer on X)

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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Today's Covid-19 Inquiry report is another indictment of the egregious lack of protection of Health Care Workers during the pandemic. It should lead to better ill health prevention, as well as compensation. See Editorial: doi.org/10.1093/occm...
doi.org
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Today's Covid Inquiry report adds another layer of concern (and anger) about inadequate Health Care Worker protection, on top of the serious flaws revealed in March:https://doi.org/10.1093/occmed/kqag055
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
PPE 'omnishambles': today's report, further to the one in March. doi.org/10.1093/occm...
doi.org
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Probably not on their track record and current trajectory.
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Yes
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Health care workers' protection and reparation after the UK COVID-19 Inquiry. doi.org/10.1093/occm... (Our Editorial in 'Occupational Medicine' published last week)
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
Similarly, early in the Covid pandemic EU guidance for protecting Health Care Workers was better than that of WHO (inasmuch as the EU recommended proper Respiratory Protective Equipment I.e. respirators)
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
The Covid-19 Inquiry's Module 3 Report to be published on Thursday is eagerly awaited by those concerned with the Occupational Health of Health Care Workers (topic sections 7 & 8)
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
Honoured to be invited to speak, at the start of this conference, on the subject of "After the pandemic - the way ahead for Occupational Medicine"
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
UK Govt has been sitting on the recommendations, from the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council about Covid in Health Care Workers, for more than 3 years !
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
As regards worker protection, see my pinned post. I'm not legally qualified to opine re the employer's responsibility towards an employee's household. Intuitively I'd say it's a poor employer that wouldn't let a worker use their own FFP to protect their family. bsky.app/profile/prof...
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 18/07/2025
breathefreely.org.uk/ventilation-...
breathefreely.org.uk
Ventilation Tool – Breathe Freely
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 08/07/2025
and this advice from New Zealand is also highly relevant to protect against covid and similar infections: www.phcc.org.nz/news/resourc...
phcc.org.nz
Resource: Promoting respiratory infection safety in the workplace - A protocol
Organisations looking for guidance on how to keep staff safe from respiratory infection now have a new resource. The Department of Public Health, University of Otago, Wellington, has developed a proto...
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-s...
bma.org.uk
COVID-19: toolkit for GPs and GP practices
Comprehensive guidance for GPs, partners and practice managers to manage employment and contractual issues and service provision during the coronavirus pandemic.
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 20/04/2025
Signing this petition might help encourage the Health & Safety Executive to develop Guidance or, better still, an Approved Code of Practice to protect Health & Social Care Workers from airborne infection: petition.parliament.uk/petitions/70...
petition.parliament.uk
Petition: Introduce new air quality and PPE rules for health and social care settings
We want the Government to set new rules on air quality and infection control in health and social care settings, to prevent and control airborne infections, with new ventilation and filtration require...
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
Good qualitative study on long covid in health care workers to complement the quantitative studies.
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
" A better approach to mitigate the risk of airborne infections in workplaces " - This Editorial I wrote and posted about last year has now appeared in the printed version of the journal. doi.org/10.1093/occm...
doi.org
A better approach to mitigate the risk of airborne infections in workplaces
Although the worst of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic appears to be over, the burden of airborne infection in workplaces remains unacceptably high, l
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 16/03/2025
Indeed. More accurately, for all of us in the "Old World": Pi day is the 22nd of July (*not* the 14th of March)
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
The threshold that Parliament set in the 1974 H&S@W Act is not absolute but "to ensure .. health & safety .. so far as reasonably practicable" doi.org/10.1136/bmj....
doi.org
Protection from covid-19 at work: health and safety law is fit for purpose
Shortcomings in protection from contracting covid at work arise from legislation being ignored, argue these authors The 2020 Coronavirus Act and ensuing secondary legislation, as well as official gov...
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 01/03/2025
Bienvenido. Hay mucha gente aquí del éXodo de allí.
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
This is catastrophic. I (successfully) sat the MRCP(UK) exams in 1979 & would have been devastated had I been told "sorry - we made a mistake & gave you the wrong result". Physicians & the public await a more detailed account of the reasons for this "error" & what the Federation is doing about it
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
With better prevention especially control measures in workplaces (eg ventilation & respiratory protection), so many sequelae of Covid could have been prevented. www.context.news/socioeconomi...
"Living nightmare" Long COVID upends lives and finances.
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 28/01/2025
Workplaces should be foci to diminish the risk of airborne infection eg flu, RSV, Covid, HMPV etc doi.org/10.1093/occm...
doi.org
A better approach to mitigate the risk of airborne infections in workplaces
Although the worst of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic appears to be over, the burden of airborne infection in workplaces remains unacceptably high, l
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
"Healthcare workers should get covid-19 vaccinations": my @bmj.com letter prompted by the Joint Committee on Vaccination & Immunisation Statement on covid-19 which made no recommendation on vaccination for healthcare workers www.bmj.com/content/388/...
Extract from British Medical Journal letter entitled "Healthcare workers should get covid-19 vaccinations"
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 18/01/2025
Will the UK emergency pandemic exercise involve running & testing ventilation / filtration, & deployment of respirators for health & social care workers & susceptible people? www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Government to lead UK emergency pandemic exercise in autumn
The stress test will involve thousands of people to help the UK prepare for potential future threats.
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
Not just Mogg, the erstwhile leader of his party & Prime Minister vowed to kill off Health & Safety culture. www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
independent.co.uk
David Cameron: I will kill off safety culture
'We need to realise, collectively, that we cannot eliminate risk and that some accidents are inevitable,' PM says
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
Yes indeed. Squamous cell carcinoma of the scrotum in chimney sweeps = probably the first occupational cancer to be described. (It can occur in other occupations too - even nowadays).
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 15/01/2025
Unfortunately many people tend to confuse the 'age effect' and the 'birth cohort effect'
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
bsky.app/profile/prof...
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
Agreed. bsky.app/profile/prof...
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 12/01/2025
The HSE document in the link discusses the concept of "as low as reasonable practicable" in the context of HASAWA 1974. The WEL for CO2 was based on toxicity not as a surrogate for ventilation. www.hse.gov.uk/enforce/expe....
hse.gov.uk
Risk management: Expert guidance - ALARP at a glance
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
5 years after covid-19 hit us,& after spending £billions on personal protective equipment, health care workers are still not given respirators as protection against aerosols of influenza or other viruses. Instead surgical masks are worn as fig leaves. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Hospitals in the west reintroduce masks after rise in flu cases
Health chiefs have urged people with colds or coughs not to visit loved ones in the hospital.
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 20/12/2024
bsky.app/profile/prof...
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 18/12/2024
FFP3 with head straps instead of ear loops would be even better. If it's hot and stuffy an exhalation valve is OK.
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Reposted by Prof Raymond Agius
Context Newsroom @contextnewsroom.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
COVID lead with the BMA, @profraymondagius.bsky.social, said the delays were inexcusable. "The government had a moral duty to look after people who put their lives at risk for us all, and I think time may prove it had a legal duty as well."
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
PS: NB: big gaps in the side of the surgical mask in the headline photo = plenty of leakage for inhaled air to be sucked in through there. Plus any air that is ''filtered'' through the surgical mask will still contain a lot of aerosol (compared to the high filtration efficiency of a respirator)
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
"UK doctors and nurses with long COVID to sue for compensation" just published in "Context" (part of @reuters.com ). Quotes from @the-bma.bsky.social www.context.news/socioeconomi...
context.news
UK doctors and nurses with long COVID to sue for compensation | Context
Health workers who fell ill on COVID pandemic frontline sue employers as they battle life-changing disabilities
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
Yes, but for proper protection, both staff and patients, the "face masks" need to be respirators, eg, FFP3 (as worn by miners & asbestos workers) not "surgical masks" or fig leaves. bsky.app/profile/prof...
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
Agreed 100%. Govt should have invested in ventilation in hospitals, schools etc starting summer 2020 instead of "eat out to spread it about". See my pinned post bsky.app/profile/prof...
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
NB: in a Dec 2020 "Occupational Medicine" Editorial I acknowledged the significance of SARS. I said that "It is possible that another major epidemic or pandemic may threaten us over the next decade and one would expect (Occupational Medicine) to be braced to contend with it" doi.org/10.1093/occm...
doi.org
Occupational Medicine in the first decade of this millennium: looking to the future
Occupational Medicine can relatively easily look back at the first ten years of this century and interpret what has been published in the context of contem
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
My 1st Covid editorial (April 2020) Repeated my call for respirators & other occupational hygiene measures eg source testing & ventilation. Case reporting & investigation needed."1000s of workers denied safeguards". 1st? ever ask for "wide-ranging independent public enquiry" doi.org/10.1093/occm...
doi.org
Covid-19 and Health at Work
While millions of people are in ‘lockdown’ in their own homes to avoid the contagion of Covid-19, many workers lack a comparable degree of protection. The
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
Those who are Xiting to Bluesky should cite relevant papers here, even if previously referred to in the other place. Thus @altmetric.com will get a measure of the Xodus. I'll do so shortly.
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 08/12/2024
Agreed. A couple of years ago I went to a hospital in Manchester (where I had once been a consultant) & I wore my respirator. I was greeted with "oh you're wearing one of those". bsky.app/profile/prof...
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 08/12/2024
Check my BlueSky-Score on: blueskyscore.com/profraymonda...
blueskyscore.com
BlueSky-Score for Prof Raymond Agius (profraymondagius.bsky.social)Bluesky Butterfly
Discover and verify Prof Raymond Agius (profraymondagius.bsky.social)’s BlueSky Score, showcasing their credibility, activity, and influence on the platform.
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 08/12/2024
bsky.app/profile/prof...
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 07/12/2024
bsky.app/profile/prof...
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
Since @altmetric.com is tracking Bluesky posts, I'm reposting about this article of mine on "Prevention of COVID-19 in workers: preparation, precaution, and protection"
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Reposted by Prof Raymond Agius
The BMA @bma.org.uk · 06/12/2024
Thanks to Baroness Bennett for yesterday’s useful debate on the review into PAs and AAs. As highlighted here the BMA’s scope of practice should be implemented to protect patient safety in the interim.
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
Sadly even the UK had a narrative in Government & the media of "underlying conditions / factors" when people died of Covid. This was a bad outlook generally, but especially egregious when applied to health & social care workers. See my article below: bsky.app/profile/prof...
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Prof Raymond Agius @profraymondagius.bsky.social · 01/12/2024
As I argued in the article highlighted in the thread below, we probably wouldn't have needed to lockdown if we had been prepared for a pandemic & if we had done things right, from the start. Sadly, enough lessons haven't been learnt/implemented to prepare for the next time. bsky.app/profile/prof...
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