Great Ormond Street Hospital Interventional Radiologist and Anaesthetists Take on The Theatre Cap Challenge

One day an anaesthetist and patient safety advocate from Australia, Dr. Rob Hackett, decided to write his name on his scrub cap. This simple innovative act ended up having a big impact on the way his team worked and turned into a global trend! 

At Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children (GOSH) in London we are dedicated to helping children from around the world fulfil their potential and are work continually find new and better ways to help the children in our care. Three of our anaesthetic Consultants (Dr Emma Stockton, Dr Lucy Hepburn and Dr Marc Cohen) and their teams have been trialling the ‘theatre cap challenge’ to improve patient care.

The rota nature of hospital shifts means that hospital staff often work with several different people in different teams every day and remembering the names of everyone can be a challenge.  Although staff wear a name tag, these can be hard to read as they are often small and obscured by medical gowns. Even a familiar face, when everyone is in scrubs and eyes are obscured by leaded glass, can be difficult to recognise! 

The simple act of writing our names on our hat not only helps teams work more cohesively but is also beneficial for families and children coming into theatre or the Interventional Radiology Department, as it can help them identify staff. This can have a huge impact on children and parents attending the departments at a stressful time, improving communication and providing reassurance. 

This simple act has been shown to have a big impact across the world, and we are thrilled to trial it in Interventional Radiology and cardiac theatres here at GOSH.