The Digital Passport for Procurement, Infection Control and Auditors

Every Medicus cap carries an item-level record that anyone can check and that an auditor can sign in to. Scan the label inside any cap and you get its provenance: composition, where and when it was made, its style and size, its care temperatures, and an activity log from the day it was minted. Organisations buying through our bulk platform get a fleet dashboard across every cap. Here's what's in it, who sees what, and how it fits the reporting you're being asked for.

Last updated: 6 September 2026

What any scan shows

• Identity: style, size, colour or pattern, and the 8-character code unique to the cap.
• Provenance: composition (100% cotton for the core range, with latex-free elastic where fitted), "Made in Sheffield, UK", and the date the cap was made.
• Care: wash temperatures for NHS workwear (60°C), non-clinical use (30°C) and the 90°C ceiling, with drying, ironing and bleach guidance.
• Last audited: the date of the most recent inspection, once a cap has had one. The verdict and notes stay behind the auditor sign-in.
• Activity: the public events in order: minted, claimed (initial and surname only), released, status changes, recycled at end of life.
• Scans: a running count of how often the QR has been read.

What auditor sign-in adds

Caps supplied to hospitals and organisations show an "Auditor sign in" card. Trust administrators are invited as named users with the auditor permission, so there's no separate portal to learn. Signed in, they see the full picture for that cap: who claimed it and when, the complete event history including inspection results and notes, the photo record, and a read-only wash count. Auditors record inspections on the cap itself, pass or fail with notes, and that is where the "Last audited" date on the public page comes from. A trust dashboard rolls the same activity up per project over the last 30 days: caps, claim rate, washes logged, caps washed recently, active users and scans, without naming any individual.

The fleet dashboard

For organisations ordering through the Medicus bulk platform, the same data rolls up into a dashboard for the buyer's own administrators: caps in total, in service, retired, lost and recycled; how many staff have claimed theirs; laundering compliance (caps laundered recently, overdue, average washes per registered cap); condition (assessed, passed, failed, photo check-ins overdue); and a row per project or department. Administrators see only the projects they're assigned to. Medicus staff see the same figures, so a question about any cap is answered from one record.

Environmental figures, and what they are

The passport's CO2 figures are estimates from a stated model: about 30 g CO2e per disposable cap against about 2.25 g per shift for a reusable one (the cap's manufacturing footprint, Scope 1, 2 and 3, spread over its service), with washing excluded on both sides. Group orders get a cohort figure from the same two constants, counted cautiously at one disposable avoided per shift, five shifts a week, from each wearer's first order date. It is not a certified lifecycle assessment and we don't present it as one. The full working is in the wash log and CO2 guide. If you need the assumptions as a document for a sustainability submission, ask us.

How it lines up with what you're being asked for

NHS Net Zero Supplier Roadmap. From April 2027 suppliers are expected to publicly report targets and emissions and publish a Carbon Reduction Plan covering their relevant Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. From April 2028 the NHS intends to introduce requirements for carbon footprinting of individual products supplied to it, with the scope and method still to be set with suppliers. A per-item record with a stated method is the shape that second requirement will take, and the passport is our head start on it.

EU Digital Product Passports. The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation has been in force since July 2024 and will require a Digital Product Passport on textiles. The textile rules are expected to be adopted from 2027 and phased in after that. Every Medicus cap already ships with an item-level passport at a permanent address, which is the core of what those rules ask for, and we'll align the data fields as the detail is finalised.

Privacy and access

The public page is built to be scanned by strangers, so it masks names to an initial and surname and never shows an email. Personal fields from the order (department, fit measurements) show only to the verified owner. Auditor access is by invitation and permission, per organisation. Aggregate dashboards report counts, not identities. Uploaded artwork and order notes never leave our systems.

End of life

Anyone holding a worn-out cap can mark it recycled on the passport. Owners can retire a cap as damaged, lost or no longer needed, with a note the auditor sees. Either way the cap's record closes with days in service, washes logged and the estimated saving, and the fleet counts update. Embroidery and vinyl should be cut off before textile recycling because they carry a name.

Getting it

Passports come with every cap. The auditor sign-in and fleet dashboard come with orders through the bulk platform. Start at bulk and wholesale ordering, or email support@medicuscaps.com and ask for a walkthrough on a live cap.

The short version

• Any scan: composition, origin, date made, care temperatures, last audited date, activity log, scan count.
• Auditor sign-in: ownership, full event history, inspection results, photos, wash count. Trust dashboard per project.
• Fleet dashboard for bulk-platform buyers: in service, claimed, laundering compliance, condition, per department.
• CO2 figures are stated-method estimates, washing excluded, never presented as certified.
• Built for where NHS supplier reporting and EU product passports are heading.

More help

The plain-English overview is what the digital passport is. Smaller teams without the bulk platform should read passports for teams. Our wider footprint and reduction work is on the sustainability promise page, and the evidence on reusable headwear is summarised in the reusable surgical headwear meta-analysis.