A wireless headset system is now being deployed within high-risk infectious and isolation units as hospitals seek to ‘improve team coordination’ where full PPE ‘significantly restricts communication’.

Originally adopted in operating theatres, catheter laboratories, electrophysiology (EP) labs, technology from UK-based manufacturer Quail Digital assists with hands-free, real-time communication between multidisciplinary teams working across physically separated clinical areas.

The Pro11 headset system is already in use at multiple NHS Trusts and is now being introduced into specialist infectious disease environments.

Dr David Sweetnam, orthopaedic surgeon from Fortius Clinic, a private orthopaedic and spine hospital in London, said: “In the modern operating theatre, we wear complete body suits, which makes communication very difficult. Sound had become muffled, but with the Pro11, communication is much clearer, and theatre efficiency has improved dramatically.”

Dr Paul Modi, cardiac surgeon at Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, added: “The headsets are a game changer for communication in the operating theatre. They create a calmer, more controlled and more efficient working environment.”

Tom Downes, CEO of Quail Digital, said: “When teams can communicate clearly and without friction, performance improves.

This isn’t about adding complexity - it’s about strengthening the human connection in high-pressure clinical environments.”