9 December 2024

Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust (PHU) is proudly supporting The Surgical Scarf Project, a campaign to support colleagues who wear headscarves and other headwear in surgical theatres. Founded by Azra Khatun, the project aims to make surgery more inclusive for all, one hospital trust at a time.

When starting her surgical placements as a medical student, Azra found that she never saw anyone who looked like her and felt discouraged from pursuing surgery. As a first year doctor of the foundation programme, she was told she couldn’t enter the operating theatre due to her headscarf, which was wrongly perceived as an infection control risk.

Azra conducted research, spoke with others who had faced similar challenges, and discovered that national NHS England guidelines permit headscarves and other headwear in theatres. In addition, she learned that there are exceptions to the bare-below-the-elbow policy.

This prompted her to launch The Surgical Scarf Project, a grassroots campaign to raise awareness of updated guidelines and encourage hospital trusts to review and revise their dress code policies for theatres. Azra is committed to driving change in surgery and encourages organisations to take a top-down approach as well as a cultural shift on the ground.

Reflecting on her experience during her second year of core surgical training rotation at Queen Alexandra Hospital, Azra said: “At PHU, the EDI team have been incredibly proactive and progressive with their work. It meant that, before I started working here, they had already updated their policy, and in practice, I am able to wear my headscarf in theatres. For me, it means I can go to theatres and focus on patient care without worrying about my headwear.

“I am thankful for everyone at the Trust who has championed, engaged with and supported the project,” Azra added. “I think other hospital trusts can learn from here as an example because I truly believe that trusts that foster equality and diversity help attract the best talent.”

Hear more from Azra and our colleagues on the importance of representation for both our staff and patients in this video.