Working towards a safer and more sustainable
.png)
When will you make the change away from disposable products ?
When will you make the change
away from disposable products ?
Our innovative new badge hats
As we move away from embroidered hats to our new innovative badge hats there are many reasons take into consideration with the order process laundering being the main hurdles.
✅ Simple order process
✅ Faster delivery times
✅ No waste when a staff member leaves
✅ Can be laundered at home or commercially
✅ Infection control approved
✅ Clear and present name and role badge
✅ Plain / writable badges available
New Cross Hospital
In 2023, New Cross Hospital at Wolverhampton implemented our embroidered theatre hats into their operating theatre department.
“The new hats create a strong sense of identity for those wearing them and have already contributed to improved teamworking within the department, plus the reusable caps provide added comfort and wearability during the working day.
We also hope by including our names on hats this will help to reduce anxiety in nervous patients as knowing the name of the person looking after them should support with building stronger relationships, while also helping them have a better understanding of who is looking after them.”
Dr Meenu Netke, Clinical Sustainability Lead for The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT)
https://www.royalwolverhampton.nhs.uk/news/2023/october/trust-switches-to-reusable-theatre-caps.html
Fife Hospital
“The colourful hats brighten up the department. Surgeons and patients appreciate the fact that these include the medics’ names and abbreviated roles, for example ODP or ODSW.
It has been seen as a great communication tool and patients look to our hats and will say our names.We work over two sites, so because of the mixing of staff it is very valuable to see who people are.
Because of COVID we now wear masks/visors, so it is hard to recognise staff. The hats are great at identifying who people are”.Lindsay Quinn,
Fife Hospital, December 2020.
Somerset NHS Foundation Trust
In April/May 2025, Somerset Foundation NHS Trust introduced our badge hat range, and the response from both staff and patients has been overwhelmingly positive.
The impact of this simple change has been remarkable:
The Results
✅ Prevent 90,000 single-use caps from incineration
✅ Staff recognition went from 41.1% to 95.9%.
✅ Achieve a 48% cost saving over three years.
When the badges are removed from the hats, they can be centrally laundered just like scrubs. Somerset opted to launder their hats onsite, but they can also be laundered at home or by a third party, whoever launders your scrubs.
We are also pleased to share that we have received approval from the governance team, based on the positive results seen so far, to roll out the badge hats throughout the rest of the trust. We will be developing a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to facilitate consistent implementation, which we can share with hospitals that require it.
Somerset’s initiative has gathered immense engagement on social media, with 530K views almost 22,000 likes and over 850 comments (you can view the video here)
Case Study
We have developed an implementation plan for our badge hats to support other hospitals in transitioning effectively. Additionally, Somerset will be preparing a case study on this initiative. If you would like to be added to the waiting list to receive a copy, please click get in touch below and complete the short form.
Royal Liverpool
"The theatre environment is a complex one where we interact with different team members all the time, all of whom work towards one goal: patient safety and the provision of safe patient care”. The use of reusable named theatre caps with roles on, enables better communication to provide this and since our Anaesthetists have been wearing their own caps, they have noticed an improvement in this".
Patients also know who they are interacting with, which allays their anxiety and improves their experience. There is better team engagement and it allows team members to work together. Also, the environmental benefits are a massive bonus for us all.
.png)
Walsgrave
Walsgrave introduced named hats in 2019. Linda Comyns outlined the impact the hats have had:
"We have been wearing them for nearly a year now and, although it has been a big change for staff, it is proving a success all round and is definitely a big improvement regarding communication and safety.
In an emergency situation you can see at a glance who can do what role”.
Read some of the staff comments once our hats have been implemented
“Very comfortable”
“The biggest difference I noticed was on Monday when people addressed me by my name a lot more than usual”.
“The team huddle is all well and good in the morning, but I don’t remember everyone’s names and if we had named caps for everyone that would be great”.
“It’s a good idea and helps to identify who is who”.
“Double thumbs up, comfortable and environmentally friendly and in scenarios where we may be working with different teams i.e., in resus, on arrests on the ward etc, it improves communication”.
“They are really comfortable and it’s nice to be called out by name”.
“They are definitely a good thing; we immediately know who is who”.
“They look smart as part of our uniform on top of our otherwise casual suit. The caps create a feeling of a unified workforce, representing the roles within the department.".
“It gives you an identity outside the theatre where your role is sometimes unknown to many”.
“It enables clear communication, especially in emergencies where timing is key to communicate with specific individuals and calling by name is important”.
“In theatre we work with different members and staff from other areas and the named caps reduces the tension of being unfamiliar with your team, not to mention the reduction in waste is brilliant and goes alongside our other efforts to recycle”.