England’s national nurse uniform roll-out to start by new year

‘Pathfinder’ trusts will be launching England’s standardised nurse uniforms in the next few weeks, while the full national roll-out may take years

It has been six years in the making, but the new national uniform for the NHS in England is finally being delivered to selected trusts for nurses and other staff to wear.

After trials by front-line workers at NHS trusts across the country, a number of ‘pathfinder’ trusts have been chosen to launch the new national uniform within weeks.

Selected trusts will be the first to adopt the new standardised uniforms

The milestone is the next step in establishing a nationwide standardised uniform for the NHS in England, which comes in an array of colours allocated to different health professions.

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Nurses at Northwick Park Hospital – part of London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust (LNWH) – were among the first to pilot the new national uniforms, one of ten trusts to take part in the 12-week wearer trials in 2022-23.

With 1,000 uniform sets distributed across these trust sites, feedback from staff included:

• Three quarters stating the fabric ‘supported a comfortable temperature’.
• 87% saying the uniforms allowed a full range of movement.
• That the garments were easy to launder and required little to no ironing.

Roll out of uniforms across trusts in England may take years to complete

LNWH lead nurse for operational and professional standards Cindy Marudamuthu said: ‘We were drawn to this project because patient feedback was a crucial part of the consultation process. Since the beginning, we’ve been actively involved, participating in wearer trials at Northwick Park Hospital to ensure the uniform meets our standards for quality, cost-effectiveness and durability.’

While nurses in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have been wearing standardised national uniforms for several years, NHS employers in England have arranged their own contracts with local discretion, resulting in a huge diversity of colours, styles and materials across the country.

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Staff at the pathfinder trusts should start wearing the uniforms by the new year, but it could take several years for all employers in England to roll out the uniforms, due to individual contracts that are in place locally. The standardised uniform is optional and trusts are not obliged to adopt it.

The national uniforms project for England, which started in 2018, involved an extensive consultation by NHS Supply Chain, which garnered more than 50,000 responses.

The colour chosen for nurses is blue with a navy trim, while matrons will be in purple and midwives in ‘postman’ blue. The uniform fabric is made from 100% recycled polyester and cotton, with sustainability a priority for the designers.

A uniform to wear with pride

NHS Supply Chain’s clinical executive director Michelle Johnson said: ‘As a former chief nurse, I know what an emotive and personal subject uniform can be. There is an immense pride in wearing an NHS uniform and being part of a system that represents care, compassion and kindness.

‘We are very proud to have reached this stage, with the first pathfinder trusts soon to receive delivery of the new NHS healthcare uniform.

‘The project has been a huge undertaking and the feedback and experiences of our pathfinder trusts have been invaluable, helping us shape and refine the implementation process when the next cycle of trusts adopt the uniform.

‘I’m looking forward to seeing colleagues in the new uniform over the coming months.’

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