Promoting the dignity of patients in perioperative practice.

UK health policy has increasingly recognised that the quality of patients' experiences is important and there is a clear expectation that patients' dignity should be promoted in healthcare. Patients undergoing surgery are particularly vulnerable to their dignity being diminished. Operating department staff should ensure that dignity is promoted through attention to patients' privacy and through interactions that help patients to feel comfortable, in control and valued. They should also challenge colleagues whose practice compromises patients' dignity.