Healthy hands are essential for safe surgical practice. This session explores the impact of repeated latex exposure, the importance of evidence-based hand hygiene products and occupational health measures to protect skin integrity. It will cover best practice in scrubbing, the 5 Moments for hand hygiene and maintaining bare below the elbow’s standards. Practical advice will also be shared on caring for hands at home to prevent long-term skin damage and support sustained compliance with infection prevention and control principles in the operating theatre.

Psychological safety is vital in the operating theatre, where teamwork and communication directly affect patient outcomes. This session explores what psychological safety is, why it matters, and the behaviours that can undermine it, while offering practical strategies to build supportive, high-performing teams where every voice is valued, staff wellbeing is protected, and patient safety is strengthened.

Prevention of blood clots, medically known as venous thromboembolism (VTE), is a key patient safety priority for hospitals. VTE includes both deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE), and the risk of developing VTE is highest following major surgery. All adult patients admitted to hospital need to be risk assessed for VTE according to the criteria set out in the NICE guidance, so that preventative treatments can be given. The VTE risk assessment has been included as a National Quality Requirement in the NHS Standard Contract since 2014/15. NICE published guidelines in 2018 . It provides recommendations and cost-effective measures to reduce the risk of VTE.