One Doctor is Changing Safety In Hospitals Around The World Because of His Decision to Write His Name on His Scrub Cap

This one doctor's decision has done big things for safety.

Edmund

• Published in Interesting
• March 28, 2019

On average, regardless of whether it it is private or public, your local hospital will be very professional and clinical with very few quirks (apart from in the children's ward) despite what many articles and videos on the internet would lead you to believe. O

ne Australian anesthetist has changed all that. Dr. Rob Hackett has decided to wear scrub caps with his name and position printed on them. Regardless of how silly this idea seems at first, a year later it would become an online trend and lead to better patient safety in various hospitals.

Dr. Rob Hackett

“The #TheatreCapChallenge is an initiative from the PatientSafe Network in response to concerns about how easily avoidable mistakes and poor communication are contributing to rising adverse events for our patients,” Dr. Hackett said. “It has been adopted around the world with studies from the US and UK demonstrating how this simple idea can decrease human errors in healthcare.”

All labelled up and ready to work.

His colleagues mocked this decision at first.

“There were some snide remarks, like ‘can’t you remember your name?'” Dr. Hackett said.

The jokes didn't last long though as a year later this idea had become the latest hospital challenge.

#patientsafety

The trend began to spread.

Many other medical professionals are showing their support jumped on board with this #TheatreCapChallenge by tweeting photos wearing their own named caps. They state that this will save time and save lives as there is little chance of mis-identification which would be vital in life or death situations.

welcome to the cause mate.

Alison the student midwife

“I went to a cardiac arrest i<

Alison has joined the cause

more join the cause

“It’s so much easier to coordinate when you know everyone’s names. It’s great for camaraderie and it’s great for patients as well.”

“It’s been great interacting with a networked team of passionate individuals from all over the world,” Dr. Hackett added. “They’re constantly generating data. UK studies have shown increased name recall amongst staff from 42 to 85%, increased name and role introductions during the surgical safety checklist from 38 to 90%. Simulation studies at Stanford University in the US demonstrated greatly increased communication and theatre efficiency.”

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royal surrey's maternity ward

The women at the royal surrey's maternity ward have backed the concept that this idea will save time and and be beneficial to patients. They also found it would be o benefit to them as they would be switching to reusable caps which would benefit them in cost and be better for the environment.

 “A 20-theatre hospital will discard over 100,000 disposable caps every year. The caps are made from viscose – a substance whose production is particularly harmful to the environment.”

“A hospital this size may spend somewhere in the region of $10,000 every year on disposable caps.”

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The checklist

Dr. Hackett has informed that despite it being on the World Health Organisation’s surgical safety checklist that each person in the operating room introduce themselves, many laugh when it is being done implying that it is usually skipped over.

campaign pushback

Dr. Hackett has said that the campaign has received pushback claiming that he believed it was due to inertia in the health system towards change.

“Cognitive dissonance [is one of the challenges] that #TheatreCapChallenge has faced,” Dr. Hackett explained. “It’s most likely to affect those who feel defined by their decisions often those further up the chain of command – in accepting change they’ll need to accept that what was happening previously, on their watch as it were, was not as good.”

“Within healthcare, this may mean we have to accept we’ve been hurting people, even killing people for years – often this can be too hard to bear.”

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A great idea.

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All the caps.

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“While there’s been support for name & role caps from anaesthetic and obstetric societies, it’s interesting to observe that were yet to receive any active support from a surgical college.”

“Here’s a golden opportunity for them to face up to the bullying nature they’ve been tarred with.”

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Making it a dare.

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Not the first campaign of this type.

#TheatreCapChallenge reminded many of #hellomynameis campaign founded by Dr. Kate Granger. Dr. Granger (who passed away of cancer in 2016) raised similar points after a hospital stay for postoperative sepsis in 2013. It is Dr. Granger belief that during this time many doctors passed up the opportunity to strengthen the relationship between patient and doctor.

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Welcome to the campaign Ali the plastic surgeon.

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So much support!

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#TheatreCapChallenge is gain momentum

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Dr. Del and Dr. Libby showing #TheatreCapChallenge support

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"We believe that together we’ll create the best environment for patient care."

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"Together we’ll create the best environment for patient care"

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"Because we believe through working together we’ll create the best environment for patient care."

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nurse Eniko

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"We believe through working together we’ll create the best environment for patient care."

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You can go follow Dr. Rob Hackett on his Twitter page.

Edmund