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HCA uniform colour in the NHS: lilac and local variants

Healthcare assistants wear lilac with navy trim on the NHS England national uniform. Trust variants, nursing associates, and Scotland's pale sky blue.

Short answer

  • On the NHS England national uniform, HCAs and support workers wear lilac with navy trim, per the NHS Supply Chain colourway sheet.
  • Trusts using the national uniform, including Herefordshire and Worcestershire, LNWH, The Christie, Pennine Care and Bradford, list support workers in lilac with navy trim.
  • Nursing associates are a separate role in sky blue with sky blue trim, so don't buy lilac if you have qualified as one.
  • In NHS Scotland, healthcare support workers and unregistered staff wear a pale sky blue tunic or polo with navy trousers.
In this guide (8 sections)
  1. What colour is the HCA uniform on the national sheet?
  2. Which trusts put HCAs in lilac?
  3. Does lilac always mean a healthcare assistant?
  4. HCA vs nursing associate vs assistant practitioner
  5. What do HCAs wear in NHS Scotland?
  6. Do HCAs have to buy their own uniform?
  7. How should HCAs wash their uniform?
  8. What to check before you act

On the NHS England national healthcare uniform, healthcare assistants (HCAs) and support workers wear a lilac top with a navy contrast trim. Trusts that have adopted the national uniform list the same color on their own uniform pages. Some trusts also put other support roles in lilac, and Scotland uses pale sky blue instead, so check your own trust or health board before buying.

What colour is the HCA uniform on the national sheet?

NHS Supply Chain announced the national colourways on 4 October 2023. Each role is shown by a base color on the body of a smart scrub top plus a contrast trim. For the role the sheet calls "HCA or support worker", it gives:

  • Base: lilac
  • Trim: navy

Adoption is a decision for each trust. A trust that has not moved to the national uniform may still dress HCAs in its older local color.

The sheet warns that on-screen colors may not match the real fabric. Lilac is a pale color, so it shifts a lot between screens. Don't order a top to match a photo, and treat the swatches in our NHS colour lookup as approximations.

Which trusts put HCAs in lilac?

We checked five trust pages on 27 October 2026. All five list support workers in lilac with navy trim, but they word the role differently:

Trust Role as the trust names it Color
Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust (news post, 27 April 2026) Healthcare assistants/support workers Lilac, navy contrast trim
London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust Care assistants and support workers Lilac, navy trim
The Christie NHS Foundation Trust Clinical healthcare assistant or support worker Lilac, navy trim
Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust Support staff, including nursing and AHP support staff; also pharmacy support assistants Lilac, navy trim
Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust HCA or support worker Lilac, navy contrast trim

Herefordshire and Worcestershire's April 2026 post says the trust is adopting the new national uniform, and that registered nurses wear hospital blue and pharmacy technicians Sherwood green, each with navy trim. LNWH notes that some staff may still be in the old style during the changeover, which is common while a rollout is under way.

Does lilac always mean a healthcare assistant?

Not always. On the national sheet, lilac is for "HCA or support worker", which is broader than ward HCAs. Pennine Care, whose services are mainly mental health, uses lilac for nursing and AHP support staff and for pharmacy support assistants. So a person in lilac could be a therapy assistant or a pharmacy support assistant, depending on the trust.

For patients and visitors, the practical point is the same: lilac means a support role rather than a registered professional. If you need a registered nurse, look for hospital blue with navy trim on the national uniform.

HCA vs nursing associate vs assistant practitioner

These roles are easy to mix up, and the colors are different. On the national sheet:

Role (national sheet) Base color Trim
HCA or support worker Lilac Navy
Nursing associate Sky blue Sky blue
Nurse Hospital blue Navy
Students Cloud blue Navy

Trusts word this a little differently. Pennine Care groups nursing associates with qualified assistant practitioners in light blue. LNWH also lists nursing associates in light blue. The national sheet's name for the color is sky blue, with a matching sky blue trim rather than navy.

Two worked examples:

  • You are an HCA who has just qualified as a nursing associate. On the national uniform you move from lilac with navy trim to sky blue with sky blue trim. Ask your trust how to swap your tops before you buy new ones.
  • You are a student nurse who also works paid HCA shifts on the bank. On the national sheet, students wear cloud blue with navy trim and HCAs wear lilac with navy trim. Ask your university and the trust's bank office which uniform goes with which shift, rather than guessing.

What do HCAs wear in NHS Scotland?

NHS Scotland has had a national uniform since 2018, set out in the Scottish Government letter DL(2018)4. It uses one color per group with no contrast trim. Healthcare support workers and unregistered staff wear a pale sky blue tunic or polo shirt with navy trousers.

NHS Scotland group (DL(2018)4) Tunic color
Healthcare support workers/unregistered staff Pale sky blue
Registered nurses Cornflower blue
Senior charge nurses/midwives Navy blue
Clinical nursing managers band 8A or above Smoked berry burgundy

This is the opposite of England in one respect: in Scotland, pale blue is the support worker color, while in England a light blue top is more likely to be a nursing associate. If you move between the two systems, don't assume the colors carry over. Your health board's policy sets the details.

A quick side-by-side for support workers:

  • England, national uniform: lilac top with navy trim, adopted trust by trust. Trousers and other details follow the trust's own policy.
  • Scotland, DL(2018)4: pale sky blue tunic or polo shirt with navy trousers, with one national color per group and no contrast trim.
  • England, trust not yet on the national uniform: whatever the trust's own policy says, which may be an older local color scheme. Ask your manager before your first shift so you start in the right top.

Do HCAs have to buy their own uniform?

NHS England's 2020 guidance for employers says organizations should provide enough uniforms for staff to wear a clean set every shift. In practice that means your trust issues your tunics. Ask your ward manager or the trust's uniform team how many sets you are entitled to and how to order replacements.

The guidance also says staff should start every shift in a clean uniform. If you are thinking of buying extra tops yourself, ask first: a lilac bought online won't necessarily match the national color, and your trust's own policy decides what you can wear.

How should HCAs wash their uniform?

The same rules apply as for every NHS role. NHS England's guidance says to wash at the hottest temperature the fabric allows, and notes that a 10-minute wash at 60°C removes almost all micro-organisms. Our guides to how to wash scrubs and washing uniform at home rules cover detergent, separating loads and what to do if a uniform is contaminated.

The dress code also applies to HCAs: forearms uncovered in patient care, and no watch or jewelry on the hands or wrists during direct care, though local policy may allow a plain ring. See bare below the elbows rules for the details.

For the full role list, including the purple matron uniform, see our guide to NHS uniform colours.

What to check before you act

  • Ask whether your trust has adopted the national uniform, and get its own color list.
  • Check what your trust calls your role; "support worker" can cover therapy and pharmacy assistants.
  • If you have qualified as a nursing associate, ask how to swap from lilac to sky blue.
  • Don't buy a lilac top to match a screen color; the national sheet warns colors differ.
  • In Scotland, follow DL(2018)4 and your health board's policy.

Questions people ask

What colour do healthcare assistants wear in the NHS?

On the NHS England national uniform, healthcare assistants and support workers wear lilac with a navy contrast trim. Trusts not using the national uniform may still have their own color.

What colour do HCAs wear in Scotland?

NHS Scotland's national uniform letter DL(2018)4 puts healthcare support workers and unregistered staff in a pale sky blue tunic or polo shirt with navy trousers.

Do nursing associates wear the same colour as HCAs?

No. The national sheet puts nursing associates in sky blue with sky blue trim, and HCAs in lilac with navy trim. Some trusts call the nursing associate color light blue.

Do other support staff wear lilac too?

At some trusts, yes. Pennine Care lists nursing and AHP support staff and pharmacy support assistants in lilac with navy trim, so lilac does not always mean a ward HCA.

Do HCAs have to buy their own uniform?

NHS England's guidance expects employers to provide enough uniforms for a clean set each shift. Ask your ward manager or the trust's uniform team before buying anything yourself.

General information only, not medical, legal or employment advice. Your employer's uniform and laundry policy comes first, and brand specs and prices change. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.

Sources

  1. NHS National Uniform Colourways, England (NHS Supply Chain A3 sheet, via British and Irish Orthoptic Society)checked October 27, 2026
  2. NHS national healthcare uniform colourways announced (British and Irish Orthoptic Society, 4 Oct 2023)checked October 27, 2026
  3. Trust unveils new uniforms to enhance patient experience and safety (Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust, 27 Apr 2026)checked October 27, 2026
  4. Our uniforms (London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust)checked October 27, 2026
  5. Recognising our uniforms at The Christie (The Christie NHS Foundation Trust)checked October 27, 2026
  6. Staff uniform (Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust)checked October 27, 2026
  7. Our guide to staff uniforms (Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust)checked October 27, 2026
  8. DL(2018)4: NHSScotland national uniform and dress code (Scottish Government)checked October 27, 2026
  9. Uniforms and workwear: guidance for NHS employers (NHS England, 2020)checked October 27, 2026

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