Indigenous art-themed personalised theatre caps improve patient perioperative experience and perceived staff communication in the operating theatre: a quality improvement project at Royal Darwin Hospital in Australia.

Background: Personalised theatre caps have been shown to improve staff communication in the operating theatre. The impact of these caps on the patient perioperative experience, particularly in Indigenous Australian patients, has not been well established.

Methodology: Surgical patients and operating theatre staff at Royal Darwin Hospital in Australia were surveyed before and after the introduction of Indigenous art-themed personalised (name and role) theatre caps in October 2021 and January 2022.