Student doctor쫄챰뻣펄셲 sustainable scrub cap success

Medical student Sophie Lawrence has visited Parliament to outline her work

Student doctor쫄챰뻣펄셲 sustainable scrub cap success

Medical student Sophie Lawrence has visited Parliament to outline her work

21 July 2026

A medical student is leading work for students to wear reusable scrub caps 쫄챰뻣펄� and her impact has already been celebrated in the Houses of Parliament.

Sophie Lawrence from the 쫄챰뻣펄 saw that scrub caps 쫄챰뻣펄� an essential requirement in theatre to keep hair out of the way and maintain hygiene standards 쫄챰뻣펄� were usually reusable for staff, while student equivalents were single-use and disposable.

Determined to reduce waste, she suggested that students wear reusables, and her move couldn쫄챰뻣펄셳 have been better timed. Working at the time with hospital staff at Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, she was introduced to EcoNinjas, a company that provides eco-friendly scrub caps with clip-on names.

Now they쫄챰뻣펄셱e joining forces to measure the effectiveness of the scrub caps among student doctors, and have already travelled to Westminster to outline their work to MPs.

I쫄챰뻣펄셶e always been passionate about sustainability, and thought about how we could do things differently in a theatre environment. I noticed that staff had reusable scrub caps and we had disposable ones, and I just thought, why?

When measured over a lifecycle, reusable scrub caps have a 56-61% lower carbon footprint than disposables, and there쫄챰뻣펄셲 a money-saving opportunity for medical schools by purchasing reusable hats as a one-off, rather than having to buy disposable ones.

I had to make sure students would actually wear reusable cotton ones, so carried out a short trial to make sure they remembered to bring them and found them comfy enough. It definitely worked!

Medical student, Sophie Lawrence

Improving student experience and patient safety

Sophie is now leading an upcoming trial, alongside newly qualified doctor and 쫄챰뻣펄 graduate Rickie Down, to explore the effectiveness of putting names and roles of medical students on the hats, with the help and support of the University.

The aim, in addition to sustainability, is to improve students쫄챰뻣펄� experience and inclusion in theatre environments, while acting as a safety initiative ensuring that everyone is aware of who is a student, who is staff, and therefore what roles each person can take on.

Diagnostic Radiography students at the 쫄챰뻣펄 are also being included in the trial, showing the impact beyond medicine alone.

While you쫄챰뻣펄셱e part of the team in surgery, it쫄챰뻣펄셲 important someone recognises you as a student straight away, and also really useful for the student to see who else is in the room.

When I was introduced to the orthopaedic team in Somerset, I saw they were conducting a trial on using clip-on names on scrub caps 쫄챰뻣펄� it just felt like one of those serendipitous moments where like-minded people met and started to discuss plans.

EcoNinjas were invited to Parliament and kindly invited me to help underline the reach that this project could have.

It was fantastic to outline the work we쫄챰뻣펄셝 done so far to MPs, and if our next trial 쫄챰뻣펄� which includes Radiography students too 쫄챰뻣펄� is successful, there쫄챰뻣펄셲 no reason why it couldn쫄챰뻣펄셳 be rolled out across the whole NHS.

It could save thousands of pounds in waste costs, while improving the theatre environment for everyone involved.

More information

Medicine student next to a skeleton model

Study medicine at 쫄챰뻣펄

Diagnostic Radiography Supporting Documentation

Study diagnostic radiography at 쫄챰뻣펄

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