The theatre caps made from a sustainable, plant-based material are now being introduced at the NHS Golden Jubilee University National Hospital in Clydebank, Glasgow.
And plans are in place for the caps to be rolled out across 14 more NHS Scotland hospital boards in the near future.
Reducing medical waste
More than 2.4 million single-use disposable theatre caps were used across Scottish hospitals alone between September 2022 and September 2023. The National Green Theatre Programme has highlighted how reusable caps will help to significantly reduce the environmental impact of medical waste.
Viscose, the basic constituent of single-use theatre caps, is derived from wood. Its use depletes natural forests while the manufacturing process uses harsh chemicals that are associated with chronic skin and heart conditions linked to cancer.
As current headwear doesn’t differentiate between different names and roles, the caps will also benefit patient care and safety through the use of fabric colours and patterns. This will help staff to more easily identify each other in busy clinical environments.
Easing patient anxiety
Wearing single-use disposable theatre caps makes staff less identifiable which can lead to miscommunication and misidentification issues that cause around 70% of adverse events in healthcare.
This also increases patient anxiety when they are not sure who is who, which can ultimately lead to an increase in blood pressure and a longer stay.
NHS Scotland staff have also reported feeling a greater sense of identity and dignity in their new reusable theatre caps.
Jonathan O’Reilly, Head of Quality Improvement at NHS Golden Jubilee, said:
Our NHS Scotland colleagues have commented on the greater sense of identity and dignity in their new Design HOPES reusable theatre caps.
Improving sustainability
The caps were designed by Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded researchers at the University of Strathclyde and Heriot-Watt University as part of the Design Healthy Organisations in a Place-based Ecosystem, Scotland (HOPES) project.
The project, an AHRC-funded design-led research initiative, involved collaborations from the following:
- Abertay University
- University of Dundee
- The University of Edinburgh
- Heriot-Watt University
- University of Strathclyde
- NHS Scotland
- the third sector
- design organisations
It aims to improve sustainability in healthcare with other planned work including improved hospital theatre scrubs design and turning plastic waste into hospital resources.
Supporting the NHS
As well as exploring opportunities for collaborations with other NHS trusts across the UK, the researchers aim to create a spin-out company. The company will design and manufacture plant-based reusable theatre caps and other textile-based products such as theatre scrubs, that will create new green jobs in Scotland.
Design HOPES is one of four Green Transition Ecosystem projects supported through AHRC’s Future Observatory: Design the Green Transition programme, delivered in partnership with the Design Museum. The projects are developing design-based solutions to pressing ecological challenges, including recycling and housing.