A hospital trust is the first in the UK to introduce disposable sterile headscarves for staff to use in operating theaters.

Junior doctor Farah Roslan, who is Muslim, came up with the idea when she was being trained at the Royal Derby Hospital.

She said it came after infection concerns related to her hijab which she was wearing that day.

It is hoped that the items can be introduced nationally but NHS England said it would depend on individual trusts.

Ms Roslan, who works in Lincolnshire, said the idea came to her while she was a medical student with University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Trust.

“I’d been using (the same headscarf) all day which obviously wasn’t clean and ideal,” she told local media sources.

“I didn’t feel comfortable taking it off and I was pulled out from the theatre, respectfully, due to infection control.”

She told sources a middle ground had to be found between “dress code due to faith” and the “passion” of being in the operating theater.

Ms Roslan looked to Malaysia, the country of her birth, for inspiration before designing and testing fabrics.

“I’m really happy and looking forward to seeing if we can endorse this nationally,” she said.