To help patients feel connected to staff despite the use of face masks, a Dundee hospital team has started wearing badges with photos of each worker in normal times.

In response to patients saying they feel less connected to healthcare staff because of the protective equipment many now wear, Ninewells Hospital’s therapeutic radiotherapy team has come up with a simple way to let patients know who it is that’s treating them.

Team members now wear badges that feature photos of them without a mask.

Senior Radiographer Zoe Monteith and Assistant Practitioner Gillian Minter worked together to develop a badge template that is now in use throughout the department.

Ms Monteith said: “A number of patients told us that even though we introduced ourselves, they didn't like not knowing what we looked like.

“It was also making it difficult for them to remember who we were. I had spotted the idea and thought it would be good for us to do something similar.

“All we did was create a template and encouraged other members of staff to add their own photo. We’ve already been receiving excellent feedback from patients who can finally see our smiles behind our masks.”

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