Nurses feel new NHS uniform colours are ‘missed opportunity’

Dr Crystal Oldman, chief executive of the Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI), dubbed it a “missed opportunity”, after many nurses felt the profession had been misrepresented in the new uniforms.

“The title of ‘nurse’ is not helpful to the public, it doesn’t tell a patient if they are a registered, qualified, nurse”

Crystal Oldman

Another nurse, from London, said confusing job titles risked “watering down the nursing profession” in the eyes of the public.

The uniform, designed and organised by NHS Supply Chain, introduced 15 “colourways” for NHS clinical staff, with a further 12 trim colours for allied health professionals like therapists and dieticians.

During a consultation into the idea of uniforms with professions differentiated by colours, a vast majority of nurses backed it – but what was unveiled last week was not universally well received.

For nursing staff, colourways included: Student, healthcare assistant, nursing associate, nurse, matron, nursing practitioner, advanced practitioner, and various leadership roles.

Dr Oldman was among a large group of nurses who was vocal about the changes on social media.

The new national NHS uniforms for England

Speaking to Nursing Times, Dr Oldman said the title of “nurse” being on the uniform was of a concern to her: “It’s not a protected title – but registered nurse is.

“Anyone could put a tunic uniform on that says ‘nurse’. It’s misleading to the public and for patients,” she warned.

“You have that, and then you have ‘nursing practitioner’, which I’ve never heard of. I’ve not got a clue, never heard it once. It sounds like someone made a typo and then is printing loads of uniforms.”

Dr Oldman said the new uniform scheme seemed “ill-informed”, and that no one she has spoken to has heard of a “nurse practitioner”, airing concerns that people would be referred to by a job title they do not have or which misrepresents what they do.

NHS Supply Chain said it was “not [its] intention” to change job roles, and that the descriptions were intentionally made “generic” so that staff could go into each colourway.

Dr Oldman continued: “There are names which are much more common that you could use to avoid this, like ‘staff nurse’, or ‘senior nurse’.

“What does team leader mean? Does it mean you’re a nurse? What happened to ‘sister and charge nurse’? These are very, very common titles.

“The title of ‘nurse’ is not helpful to the public, it doesn’t tell a patient if they are a registered, qualified, nurse.”

Dr Oldman pointed to similar schemes in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and said they had been executed much more smoothly.

In addition, she further criticised the NHS Supply Chain scheme for missing out practice and community nursing. “It is a missed opportunity,” she continued.

Dr Crystal Oldman

“It’s a great idea, the concept of people receiving services identifying who is there, knowing if they’re being seen to by a registered nurse, a more senior nurse, or a healthcare support worker – that’s enormously helpful.

“[The QNI] would be happy to convene to help and assist on how to improve it,” she noted.

As well as nursing leaders like Dr Oldman, many others in the profession said they were not pleased by the new scheme.

Stephanie Sollosi, a neonatal nurse from London, described the new scheme as “ludicrous”, and said the anger over it was partly fuelled by other blows that the profession has suffered recently.

“I don’t feel like we’re a respected profession anymore, and with the new uniforms coming out, the general public will be even more confused, and that waters nursing down even more,” said Ms Sollosi.

“I don’t know what a nursing practitioner is. This seems typical, bringing people in for these decisions who haven’t the faintest idea what nursing is.”

Ms Sollosi continued: “Unless I had someone standing in front of me with the colour chart, I couldn’t be able to figure out which blue is which.

“There is so much that needs to be done to improve the public and professional standing of the nurse, why are they wasting time and money with this?”

Another nurse, Becky (no surname given), said that, while she thought the concept of a national uniform scheme was “good”, it has fallen flat.

She agreed that some of the job titles were too “vague” and she was concerned that fields such as paramedics had been “overlooked” by it.

She said: “This national uniform issue has highlighted wider challenges, such as the huge variety of job roles, and whilst the concept of a uniform to reduce confusion is to be commended – this proposal […] needs further refinement before it can achieve this.”

Responding to the concerns from nurses, Kevin Chidlow, director of estates and facilities for NHS Supply Chain, said: “It is not our intention to change job roles and titles.

“The NHS National Healthcare Uniform project is aimed at transforming the approach to uniform provision across NHS trusts in England,” he said.

“The descriptions and titles used for the colourways of the NHS National Healthcare Uniform were designed to be generic, so that a variety of roles can go into the colour scheme.”

Mr Chidlow said the organisation was “actively engaging” with trusts and stakeholders involved in the scheme to “understand where it is clinically appropriate” for staff to align with each colourway.

He continued: “This will then form the basis of national guidance. We will continue to listen to feedback and engage accordingly.

“The project delivers enhanced sustainability, improved professional image, exceptional value for money, and fosters an inclusive culture in which everybody feels seen, respected, and valued.”

The scheme will be rolled out after the new year, though it will be optional for trusts to adopt it.