Now it is offensive to have male and female uniforms in the NHS

[SecretShambles]

NHS unveils first 'national uniform' - here's what the colours mean https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-12566251/NHS-unveils-national-uniform-bosses-ditch-traditional-male-female-sizes-heres-TWENTY-SEVEN-different-coloured-scrubs-mean.html?ito=native_share_article-top

Despite the fact that male and female bodies are different, every uniformed NHS worker will have to wear a unisex uniform from now on in case of offending the easily offended.

I'm fat but I'm not offended by seeing size 8 clothes on the rail when I go shopping so I'm not sure why having a male body but not identifying as a man and seeing male and female clothing is so very wrong?

The NHS has taken on all the trans evil. It should concentrate on patients, not playing politics. The management need to be removed

Bit of a bugger identifying staff if you are colourblind.

I've got nothing against the universal colours (although peering at someone to decide the exact shade of blue could get interesting)

but unisex does already cause issues - trousers too long because women are shorter than men on average (and unisex means 'man shaped' not 'half-way between' - we all know it), super baggy in some places so that they fit in others - having to safety pin the neckline or flashing everyone through armholes if you've got bigger boobs.

Those colours have been pretty standard in my trust for the last 10 years. I have worked on the NHS for 23 years, I have never known a time when physios didn't wear white with navy trim and OTs white with green.

Yes 'Ye olde' name badge would tell me everything I need to know

Colours are crucial to identifying staff, even for other staff.
If I walk on a ward I want to know who the Sister is without walking round looking at everyone's name badge.
It really is used as a system pretty much everywhere, they're just unifying it across Trusts.
Agree male and female scrubs should be available though.

The whole point about having men and women’s uniforms is so that they fit properly! Comfort and safety.

women generally look awful in men’s uniforms - all wrong shape, length, baggy at the waist, too right around the boobs… that’s the flipping point!

NHS - who is advising them?

They are fine unisex, and there's no issue.
There's a maternity version for the women.

Wales colours seem much more sensible, I don't know why England didn't use the same. Dr's have coloured scrubs in wales.

Makes it much easier for the patients and staff to identify who is who. Though agency staff wear different uniforms.

I think the English uniform has too many colours which are similar shades.

Exactly this. Unisex clothes are just men's clothes.

There was an interview in tv recently about sexism in the police. The woman interviewed was saying that the armed police only had mens body armour (it was finally changed) which was painful/not fit for purpose for the women armed officers.

And there's sewing rooms to adapt the uniform trousers, and two lengths of too I Wales. As well as elasticated waists or drawstring for mental health staff (so you dont lose your trousers in a restraint)

But surely trouser length is an issue. If they are tapered then they will be like palazzo pants (which I find can flap a kit and catch your ankles when walking fast) if you are rather short. Plus waist height.

It would be easier to have something like stripes on the arm to denote seniority rather than a different colour for everyone. In reality, people in hospital for the day won't have familiarised themselves with all the colours before they arrive, but "more stripes = more important" is easy to grasp.

We have had this in place in Scotland for a while and the colour system is so useful to other staff members who are often busy and can quickly identify who they need to speak to by what colour their uniform is. When I first started in the NHS this really helped me before I got to know everyone personally. However, the tunics do not consider the female shape and I would have to cut the sides in order for them to fit over my hips. I’m a slim size 8 but have wider hips to waist which is absolutely not considered in the shaping of the uniform. They are definitely made for men which is a real shame.

What do you expect "the sexes" to wear at work ? Your point is definitely a bit of a stretch. Unisex uniforms have been around years or are you expecting frilly hats and stiff aprons for the lady nurses still ?

Men and women have different body shapes. Unisex clothes are usually men’s supplied in smaller sizes.

And why is this an issue men and women's tunic and trousers is just that a tunic and trousers.

I’m always curious as to why the trousers and tops are the same colour. Surely it would be cheaper to only colour code half the outfit and have the other half for each job?

No one is arguing against men and women wearing the same type of uniform. What they are pointing out is that men and women’s bodies come in different shapes, so one shape does not fit all. I would imagine something like the following is needed:

men’s/triangle shaped women
tops for women with bigger busts
bottoms for women with a bigger hips to waist ratio
petite women’s tops and bottoms
maternity tops and bottoms

I think this is a good move. I remember a poster I saw in an NHS trust in England which showed the difference between uniforms by grade.

Where there was a difference between male and female uniforms, for several of them, the female uniform was in a block colours but the make uniform was white with the same colour as an accent.

This must surely lead to people assuming the men are in more senior roles, given the association with white clothes and doctors.

I remember noticing that a junior role (something like porter, I forget now) had a white uniform for men, whereas many of the senior roles for women were all colour.

This makes much more sense, to have everyone in the same.

I'm in Wales at my hospital there's a mixture of both. I've never given it a thought.

For gods sake stop reading the bloody daily mail.

Here’s the source information free from Daily Hate fuckwittery. https://www.supplychain.nhs.uk/categories/hotel-services/uniforms/nhs-national-healthcare-uniform/

There appear to have been user trials so fit and comfort has been considered, but there’s no more information about actual sizing, so I don’t really understand this knee jerk reaction.

There appear to have been user trials so fit and comfort has been considered, but there’s no more information about actual sizing, so I don’t really understand this knee jerk reaction.

Experience. The moment I hear 'unisex' my 5' tall, dumpy with plenty of curves to go around self knows that it's not going to fit.

By the time the trousers are going round my hips, the waist will be up to my armpits, there'll be a foot of fabric to take off the bottom, and the resulting trousers will be palazzo pants as someone says above.

Then the top will be inches too wide at the shoulders once it goes around my bust, and I'll be flashing everyone from the neckline and the armpits, it'll be ridiculously long, and have a load of extra fabric above/below my boobs (because no bust darts)

I think colour coding is helpful, though surprised at how much needed.
When I visited A&E a few years back with DD I had no idea whether I was talking to a doctor, nurse, or someone else.

I also think 'unisex' can be problematic. DD needed overalls for college. The smallest size didn't fit around her chest, but the next size up was baggy in all sorts of other places. They were made for 31inch leg, DD is 26. We ended up paying for the arms and legs to be shortened considerably, bit the trunk length is still too long. And I haven't found anywhere that provides off the peg overalls for a 5ft adult yet Children's sizes aren't big enough in the chest. <Sorry, rant over>