New scrub hats a boost for hospital staff

New reusable scrub hats that help patients and hospital staff identify team members in theatres have been donated to the interventional therapy (IR) team at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital (RBH).

The IR team, like many healthcare professionals, have to wear scrub hats for their job due to infection control reasons. The usual hats are identical, single use items which are thrown away at the end of a shift. The 30 new hats, donated by PLANETS Cancer Charity, are made of a different material that looks smarter, more professional, and help identify members of staff by name and role. They are also washed after each shift and are therefore better for the environment.

With potentially up to 15 members of staff in one operating theatre for complex cases, and with everyone in the same uniform, it can be difficult to know who is who, especially if individuals are working with other healthcare professions who they don’t work with regularly. Being able to differentiate between people is much nicer for the team and the patients, some of who remain awake during their operation or procedure.

Dr Christopher Watts, consultant interventional radiologist at RBH, said: “I would like to extend a huge thank you to the PLANETS Cancer Charity for donating the scrub hats. They are being worn proudly by the doctors, nurses, radiographers and healthcare assistants that are all part of our IR team.

“The scrub hats have given us all a boost during this very challenging time and make us feel more of a team than ever. We love them, the patients love them, and they are very helpful when going to theatres as we can be easily identified. We would also like to thank @hatsNada Tw, nada_lambert insta for creating such a great hat.”

Jo Green, PLANETS Cancer Charity marketing manager, added: “We are incredibly grateful to the medical teams we support who have continued to deliver cancer services throughout the pandemic in such difficult circumstances. The handmade, personalised scrub hats are just a small token from us to say thank you.”