Decision made on single-colour uniform for NHS AHPs in England

Back in January, all AHPs in England were given the opportunity to express their preference for a base colour for the smart scrub style top from white, pale grey or dark magenta. After counting the first choice and second choice votes, the result showed a preference for dark magenta with 54% of votes, white came in second place and pale grey was the least preferred colour. This indicated that dark magenta was the most acceptable across AHP professions. To distinguish the AHP professions apart, each profession will have a different colour trim. Some AHPs, including physiotherapists and occupational therapists have chosen to stick with a white uniform.

For speech and language therapists who currently wear a uniform, in the future this will consist of a dark magenta top. The uniform will be optional as it is recognised that there are many settings where speech and language therapists work where it is not appropriate to wear a uniform; for example, when working with vulnerable users, including children in schools or adults with learning disabilities, which was highlighted many times to us in the RCSLT survey.

Steve Jamieson, CEO of the RCSLT, said: “We would like to thank our 3000 members who took the time to respond to the NHS Supply Chains consultation to share your views. We would also like to thank all our members who directly responded to the RCSLT survey to share your thoughts on what you would like from a AHP uniform.” 

Kevin Chidlow, Category Tower Director for NHS Supply Chain: Hotel Services said: “I’d like to thank all Allied Health Professionals for their overwhelming response, engagement and patience. We look forward to continued engagement so you will have a fit for purpose, easy to wear, smart and comfortable uniform for our diverse NHS workforce.” 

Further information

• Further information on the uniform is detailed in the FAQs
• NHS Supply Chain announcement