Hundreds of Fife hospital theatre staff add names to their caps – and this is why
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The simple innovation was the brainchild of Lindsay Quinn an operating department practitioner based at Queen Margaret Hospital in Dunfermline.
It aims to help to improve communication between healthcare staff and patients.
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Hide AdThe caps mean anyone can see at a glance the names of people they are working alongside - and the role they play in an operating theatre.
And patients, who may be disorientated as they come round after sedation, can have the reassurance of being able to address the staff caring for them by name.
The initiative came about after Lindsay was tasked with carrying out a quality improvement exercise in her area as part of some additional study.
After learning about similar initiatives elsewhere, she sought funding through the Fife Health Charity, and was awarded £20,000.
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Hide AdAround 450 staff working in Fife’s theatres have now been issued with personalised caps for use during operating procedures.
Lindsay said: “We intended just to try the idea in a single theatre.
“We quickly realised that a really simple little thing like this could benefit all the theatres in Fife and so it quickly grew from there.
“We’ve now provided caps to staff working in planned care, obstetrics, orthopaedics - as a clinical team I think you can really see how it improves communication, not only between staff but between ourselves and patients too.
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Hide Ad“That’s really important as it’s an anxious time having surgery and so anything we can do to alleviate that anxiety is good for patients.”