Hats off to NHS trust making reusable headwear

3 hours ago

Naj ModakNorth East and Cumbria

News image — Clinicians Ingrid Wilkins, Mhairi Stewart and Ludger Barthelmes, in their recycled hats

Supplied Clinicians Ingrid Wilkins, Mhairi Stewart and Ludger Barthelmes, wearing their brightly patterned reusable hats. They have matching burgundy scrubs and stand together in a hospital preparation area. — Clinicians Ingrid Wilkins, Mhairi Stewart and Ludger Barthelmes, in their recycled hats

A health trust is cutting costs and making operating theatres more inclusive by making reusable hats from old shirts.

The sustainability project at North Cumbria Integrated Care Foundation Trust, has won a regional NHS Excellence Award, and involved clinicians raising funds by busking on a bus.

The trust was spending £12,000 annually on paper hats with more than 64,000 going in the bin after use. Staff with Afro-Caribbean textured hair or who wear hijabs were also struggling to find suitable coverings.

Leading the project, consultant surgeon, Ludger Barthelmes, said: "Getting projects like this moving can be challenging, but all the hard work everyone has contributed is paying off."

The trust said hats produced in a wider range of sizes for colleagues in those groups who had previously found standard disposable hats uncomfortable or unsuitable, had removed a barrier to working in theatres.

It also said adding staff names to reuseable headwear supported clearer communication and helped staff feel more visible at work.

The savings helped create paid employment through People First and Goodlives, two charities supporting people get jobs.

Supplied Three people are sitting on a bus playing brass instruments, including trumpets and a trombone. The bus interior, windows, and overhead lighting are visible in the background. They are wearing reusable hats. — The team also busked on a bus to raise money for the project

Barthelmes said: "We even dusted off our musical instruments to go busking at the train station to raise money."

People attending the charities helped make the hats out of old shirts and second hand bed linen.

Barthelmes said the support from the charities also took "pressure off" his wife because she had stitched about 1,000 hats.

Supplied A group of people stand together inside a railway station beneath a glass roof, holding a large presentation cheque. Station signs, information boards, and rail platforms are visible in the background, and several people are holding brass instruments. — A £2,650 grant from train operator Avanti's sustainability fund helped pay for state-of-the-art equipment

A £2,650 grant from train operator Avanti's sustainability fund helped pay for state-of-the-art equipment to launder the hats at West Cumberland Hospital.

It also provided an hourly direct bus link between Cumberland Infirmary and West Cumberland Hospital

Consultant anaesthetist Ingrid Wilkins said: "If you've got curly hair or lots of hair, the disposable hats don't really fit."

Barthelmes said the single use hats do not fit people with afro-caribbean texture hair and "some members of staff cried secretly in the changing room trying to glue two hats together".