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Mission statement
Eco Ninjas is at the forefront of transitioning from disposable theatre caps to reusable "name and role" fabric hats. Named theatre hats are already making a significant impact by improving communication within theatre teams, boosting staff morale, and reducing patient anxiety. By enabling quick and easy identification of team members, they foster a more cohesive and transparent environment.
Our mission is to enhance patient safety through improved communication and the reduction of hierarchical barriers among healthcare professionals. We are also committed to sustainability by preventing millions of single-use disposable caps from ending up in landfills.
Our innovative theatre hat design ensures that they can remain within departments and be reused by other staff members when individuals leave. The name badges are easily transferable to new staff, allowing for continued use in other hospitals, reducing waste, and supporting a fully sustainable product.
Inspiration behind Eco Ninjas
In February 2020, while training an operating theatre team, Danielle was asked to write her name and role on her disposable theatre hat. Inspired by the idea and its numerous benefits, she made it her mission to implement personalised theatre hats across the UK.
During her research, Danielle discovered that very few companies offered latex-free, personalised theatre hats, and those that did lacked expertise in the medical sales sector—a field Danielle had specialised in for over 20 years. Recognising this gap, she decided to establish Eco Ninjas and partnered with her brother, Neil, who brings expertise in finance, business, and web design. Together, they saw the immense potential of named theatre hats to improve both efficiency and safety in operating theatres.
Eco Ninjas (formerly Warwick Med) has spent over three years supplying reusable embroidered theatre caps to NHS hospitals across the UK, accumulating extensive knowledge and experience. The team has collaborated with universities, sustainability experts, and consultants to conduct evaluations and microbial studies, gaining a deep understanding of the benefits and challenges of implementing personalised reusable theatre hats. As a result, they have now developed a new range of innovative, fully inclusive personalised theatre hats backed by professional manufacturing partners.
Meet the team
Danielle Checketts,Managing Director
As a former medical professional, I am passionate about patient safety and communication. I would like to help to create a safer and greener NHS. After 7 years working in the NHS followed by 16 years in medical sales (working with and training the NHS), I saw first-hand how having access to the right medical advances could change patients’ lives. I have been a patient twice now (I have had 2 babies in theatres) so I can understand from a patient perspective how human connections and human factors can make such a huge difference along with heightened anxiety levels when clinical staff are not identifiable. From several perspectives I have experienced first-hand mistaken identity:
1) Whilst training medical staff in theatre.
2) As a student nurse during an 8-week placement in theatres.
3) As a patient on 2 separate occasions- one which was an emergency and one which was planned.
I therefore feel that I am a great advocate for promoting the many benefits in clearly identifiable staff members throughout the operating theatre department and I will try to ensure that all theatre staff have clearly named hats/scrub caps throughout the UK.
In my spare time, I enjoy playing competitive racket sports, including tennis, badminton, and racquetball. I also have a passion for traveling with my family and immersing myself in new cultures.
Neil Draper, Director of Finance & eCommerce
With over 15 year's experience in running various businesses, my strengths are within finance, processes, and systems. I gained qualifications in finance, media, website design and building bespoke back- office systems to cope with the demands of the ever-changing online industry, I am always looking for ways to improve efficiencies through technology.
When Danielle came up with the idea of making a change within the NHS to boost patient safety and communication through the "named theatre hats" campaign, I instantly knew that I wanted to be part of this hugely worthwhile initiative.
I moved on to learn sales and marketing, health and safety and eventually finance and started a successful logistics company plus various online shopping stores. I enjoy spending my (limited) free time on the golf course, working out in the gym and running marathons for various charitable causes.
Ben Checketts, IT & Operations
I have spent 20 years in Telecoms and IT business, much of that time in Senior Management.
As a keen advocate of tech in both my work and my personal life, I am uniquely placed to see the overall picture and I particularly relish orchestrating the various moving parts to provide the complete solution.
Project Management, mergers and acquisitions plus ‘people’ management are key strings to my bow.
I get excited about technical systems, system integration and automation. Outside work, I enjoy travel, play all racket sports and in 2024 I completed my first marathon.
Jennifer Kennedy, Social Media Manager
I am the social media manager for Eco Ninjas.
With over 12 years of experience creating, implementing, and optimising social media strategies, I am relentlessly focused on telling a company’s story and mission through the use of social media to help boost awareness and visibility.
I am passionate about engaging with audiences about our innovative products, learning about patient stories and using our channels as a platform to have important conversations about patient care and the environment.
I am excited to bring this energy and commitment to an environmentally focused & ethical business like Eco Ninjas.
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