If you work in an office (nhs)

[Newjobworkwear]

If you work in an office for the NHS what do you wear? Starting work next week and have never worked in the NHS or an office environment before so no idea what to wear. Planning a shopping trip to buy new clothes but don't know what to buy. When I visited I forgot to pay much attention to what people were wearing

From distant memory the NHS office dress code was no strappy tops/vests (so tops should have some sort of sleeve even if short), no shorts, no denim, no slogans on clothing, nothing revealing. Apart from that, choose a version of what you'd be comfortable in - simple summer dress? Trousers/skirt and a top? Lots of NHS sites are big so you end up doing quite a bit of walking - I'd bear that in mind re footwear If you're really unsure check the employee info you have so far as it might tell you (or you might have to wait until your induction).

Hope your new job goes well, congratulations!

Unlikely to be super corporate smart. IME it can vary from very casual to, not-jeans but still fairly casual.
Go shopping after your first week once you get a better idea.

The nhs staff I see out and about seem to be quite casual, you could get away with a long dress and Birkenstocks for example. Or trousers with a t shirt. Patterned blouses. Black trainers etc. It doesn’t seem very strict.

You can play it safe your first week with trousers and a shirt and smartish shoes, then see what your colleagues tend to wear and take it from there

I am starting a new job at the NHS in an office (but not on a hospital site) and when I enquiried they said no very high heels or flip flops (but sandals were okay) or very short skirts and “fairly smart” - I had on a jersey summer dress with wide shoulders but not even cap sleeves and they said that would be fine. Men were in short sleeved shirts, no ties. So I think a punt on blouse + trousers/skirt or a smart-ish top + trousers/skirt or a summer dress with shoulders would be pretty doable for summer?

There is no jeans policy where I work but not really enforced - many folks wear coloured jeans
Other than that, anything really that's not strappy or too revealing for women
Men complaining recently in heat that they have to wear sleeves whereas women can wear sleeveless
None of admin wear jackets
I second comfortable shoes but some wear heels

I am a nurse but share an office with secretaries, they all wear kind of typical office wear, not too formal but definitely no jeans. Most wear cropped black trousers or smart trousers with nice smart casual tops and cardigans. Dresses with bare legs in summer or tights and boots in winter.

I'm an NHS secretary and I wear a complete mix of outfits from casual dark coloured jeans to smart skirts and trousers. It all depends on my mood! My manager wears t-shirts and loose trousers. My colleagues tend to be the same. I've never had any comments about my clothing choices. When I started I wore cigarette pants and smart tops until I saw what everyone else wore, now I save them for interviews!

My friend is a secretary in the NHS. Her usual outfits at this time of year are cropped, slim trousers, with cap-sleeved tops, and loafers. Sandals fine, but no flip-flops. In winter she wears a lot of camisole tops with cardigans, trousers, loafers, brogues or boots. (She’s not a skirt person, but her friends there do wear dresses and skirts.) Her manager is fairly senior, so she attends a lot of meetings and committees, but isn’t expected to wear a jacket, though even black jeans are a complete no.

What Dept are you in?

I'm a medical secretary and what people wear varies from site to site. Can you find the dress code policy on line? Or ask HR to send it to you.