title: Assistant theatre practitioners: 'must have' or 'needs must'?
abstract: Assistant theatre practitioners (ATPs) are healthcare assistants (HCAs) with additional training, extending their practice to include limited, supervised roles in scrub and recovery support. They have the potential to increase the flexibility of the theatre team and aid retention of critical staff. Will they become an essential member of your perioperative team? What are the risks and issues associated with the role? How can they be implemented safely? Theatre teams around the country are addressing these, and many other questions. This article will tackle some of the concerns and report progress so far.
authors.affiliation: Theatre Practicioner Project, Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire SHA, Cambridge.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Huddleston
authors.forename: Hoagy
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Scoins
mesh_terms: D004739:England; D006801:Humans; D009872:Operating Room Technicians / Q000193:education / Q000592:standards; D009873:Operating Rooms; D019982:Organizational Case Studies; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010561:Personnel Staffing and Scheduling; D024382:Professional Role; D000078329:Workforce