Health ministers have asked the General Medical Council (GMC) to decide if there is "a problem" with staff wearing the veils while treating patients.
There is currently no official guidance on the issue.
Health secretary Jeremy Hunt told Sky News that as a patient he would always want to see the face of the nurse or doctor looking at him. He said he had "a great deal of sympathy" with patients who do not want to be treated by a doctor or nurse with their face fully covered.
"This is something that is decided locally by NHS trusts and I strongly support the principle that hospitals should have that local autonomy," said Hunt.
"But I do want to make sure we have the right professional guidelines in place so that patients can be confident that they are able to see a doctor or nurse's face whenever they should.
"I think it should be a professional matter not a political one so we have written to the professional regulator the GMC to ask for their guidelines."
No barriers
According to a report by The Daily Telegraph, a ban on staff wearing the full-face veil when dealing with patients has already been introduced at 17 NHS hospitals.
Carol Baxter, NHS Employers head of equality, diversity and human rights, said valuing diversity is one of the "core values of the NHS", but to ensure the highest level of care she said it's "paramount" there are "no barriers to effective communication between staff and patients".
"NHS organisations have a duty to determine appropriate dress for staff, depending on their role and the tasks they perform," said Baxter.
"This must be done in close collaboration with patients, staff, faith groups and community representatives."
The Welsh government has announced that it has no plans to review the wearing of full face veils by NHS staff.
