What colour does a matron wear in the NHS?
On the NHS England national uniform, matrons wear purple with navy trim. How to spot one, where trusts differ, and what Scotland does instead.
- Independent · sells nothing
- Published October 27, 2026
- 9 sources, checked October 27, 2026
- 5 min read
Short answer
- On the NHS England national uniform, matrons wear a purple top with navy trim, according to the NHS Supply Chain colourway sheet.
- Trusts that use the national uniform, such as The Christie, LNWH, Pennine Care and Bradford, list matrons in purple with navy trim.
- Adoption is trust-led, so a trust still on its own scheme may dress matrons differently. Check the trust's own uniform page.
- NHS Scotland's national uniform has no matron tunic; senior nursing roles are split by job and band instead.
In this guide (8 sections)
- What colour is the matron uniform on the national sheet?
- How to tell a matron from other senior nurses
- Do all trusts dress matrons in purple?
- Is the matron colour linked to pay band?
- Why make matrons easier to spot?
- What do matrons wear in NHS Scotland?
- What about uniforms for other roles on the ward?
- What to check before you act
On the NHS England national healthcare uniform, a matron wears a purple top with a navy contrast trim. That comes from the NHS Supply Chain colourway sheet, and trusts that have adopted the national uniform repeat it on their own uniform pages. Adoption is a decision for each trust, though, so a trust still on its own scheme may put matrons in a different color.
What colour is the matron uniform on the national sheet?
NHS Supply Chain announced the national colourways on 4 October 2023. Every role gets a base color for the body of the top and a contrast trim. For matrons, the sheet gives:
- Base: purple
- Trim: navy
The sheet also carries a warning that on-screen colors may look slightly different from the real fabric. If you are buying or checking a uniform, don't match it to a photo or to the swatches on this site. Our NHS colour lookup shows approximate screen colors for every role, labeled as approximations.
How to tell a matron from other senior nurses
Several senior nursing roles sit close together on the sheet, and three of them use navy somewhere. Here is how they compare on the national uniform:
| Role (national sheet) | Base color | Trim |
|---|---|---|
| Matron | Purple | Navy |
| Team leader | Navy | Dark red |
| Head of department | Black | Red |
| Advanced practitioner | Dark red | Navy |
| Nursing practitioner | Royal blue | Navy |
| Nurse | Hospital blue | Navy |
A worked example of reading it on a ward:
- Purple body, navy collar and edging: matron.
- Navy body, dark red edging: team leader, which many trusts use for ward managers or ward sisters.
- Dark red body, navy edging: advanced practitioner, not a matron, even though the color is close to purple in poor light.
- Black body, red edging: head of department.
The key habit is to read the body of the top first and the trim second. Navy appears as a trim on most roles, so a navy collar on its own tells you very little.
Do all trusts dress matrons in purple?
Trusts that have adopted the national uniform generally follow the sheet for matrons. We checked four trust pages on 27 October 2026:
| Trust | Matron | Notes from the same page |
|---|---|---|
| The Christie NHS Foundation Trust | Purple, navy trim | Senior nurses and senior AHPs in black with dark red trim; team leaders in navy with matching navy trim |
| London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust (LNWH) | Purple, navy trim | Ward managers and team leaders in navy; says some staff may still wear the old style during the transition |
| Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust | Purple, navy trim | Ward managers, team leaders and charge nurses in navy; image captions on the page differ from the text for some roles |
| Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | Purple, navy contrast trim | Lists the national roles, including team leader in navy with dark red trim |
Two details are worth noticing. First, The Christie and LNWH list team leaders in navy without the dark red trim that the national sheet gives. That is a small local variation, and it shows that trusts adapt the sheet. Second, Pennine Care's own page has captions that don't match its text for some senior roles, so even a trust page can be inconsistent during a rollout.
Trusts that have not adopted the national uniform may still use older local schemes, where a matron's color can be anything the trust chose. Our main guide to NHS uniform colours covers one trust that shows matrons in a different color from the national sheet.
Is the matron colour linked to pay band?
No. The national sheet assigns colors by role and does not mention Agenda for Change bands. A matron wears purple because the job is matron, not because of a band.
Matron posts themselves vary by trust. One example: a modern matron vacancy advertised on NHS Jobs by The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust in 2026 was at band 8a, leading quality, safety and workforce across a clinical area. Other trusts may grade similar posts differently. If you are moving into a matron post, ask the trust which uniform the post comes with rather than working it out from the band.
For the wider question of band-based colors, see the band section of our NHS uniform colours guide. Some trusts do add local band rules for other roles.
Why make matrons easier to spot?
The point of a role-based color scheme is that patients, visitors and staff can tell who is who. RCNi reported on 15 April 2025 that matrons and ward leaders at Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust had started wearing the new national uniform. The article said the change followed feedback from patients and staff who wanted nursing roles to be easier to tell apart.
That is also why trusts publish "who's who" pages with photos. If you are a patient or visitor wanting to raise a concern with the person in charge of a ward or area, the uniform page for that hospital is the quickest way to know who to look for.
What do matrons wear in NHS Scotland?
Scotland has had a national uniform since 2018, set out in the Scottish Government letter DL(2018)4. It uses one tunic color per group, with navy trousers, and no contrast trim. The letter does not have a matron category.
| NHS Scotland group (DL(2018)4) | Tunic color |
|---|---|
| Clinical nursing managers band 8A or above, worn in a clinical setting | Smoked berry burgundy |
| Senior charge nurses/midwives | Navy blue |
| Registered nurses | Cornflower blue |
| Healthcare support workers/unregistered staff | Pale sky blue |
So in Scotland, a senior nurse in a role similar to an English matron would usually be covered by the burgundy or navy rule, depending on the job and band. This is one place where Scotland does use a band, unlike England's national sheet. Check your health board's own policy for how it applies the letter.
What about uniforms for other roles on the ward?
If you are working out the rest of the ward team, healthcare assistants wear lilac with navy trim on the national sheet. Our guide to HCA uniform colours covers the local variants. Students wear cloud blue with navy trim, covered in what color scrubs nursing students wear.
A matron's uniform comes with the same dress code as everyone else's. That means forearms uncovered during patient care and no watch or jewelry on the hands or wrists, though local policy may allow a plain ring, as explained in our guide to bare below the elbows rules. Laundering rules are the same too: see how to wash scrubs.
What to check before you act
- Ask whether your trust has adopted the national uniform, and get its own color list.
- Read the body of the top first and the trim second; navy trim is on most roles.
- Don't confuse dark red (advanced practitioner) with purple (matron) in poor light.
- If you are starting a matron post, ask which uniform the post comes with and how to order it.
- In Scotland, follow DL(2018)4 and your health board's policy.
Questions people ask
What colour uniform does a matron wear in the NHS?
On the NHS England national uniform, matrons wear purple with a navy contrast trim. Trusts that have not adopted the national uniform may use a different color.
Is a navy uniform a matron in the NHS?
Not on the national uniform. Navy with a dark red trim is the team leader color, and navy is also the trim on most other roles, including the matron's purple top.
What colour do senior nurses above matron wear?
The national sheet puts heads of department in black with red trim. The Christie lists senior nurses and senior AHPs in black with dark red trim.
What band is a matron?
It depends on the trust and the post. For example, a 2026 modern matron advert at The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust was Agenda for Change band 8a. The uniform color is set by role, not band.
What do matrons wear in NHS Scotland?
Scotland's national uniform letter DL(2018)4 does not name matrons. It puts clinical nursing managers at band 8A or above in smoked berry burgundy and senior charge nurses in navy blue.
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
- NHS National Uniform Colourways, England (NHS Supply Chain A3 sheet, via British and Irish Orthoptic Society)checked October 27, 2026
- NHS national healthcare uniform colourways announced (British and Irish Orthoptic Society, 4 Oct 2023)checked October 27, 2026
- Recognising our uniforms at The Christie (The Christie NHS Foundation Trust)checked October 27, 2026
- Our uniforms (London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust)checked October 27, 2026
- Staff uniform (Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust)checked October 27, 2026
- Our guide to staff uniforms (Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust)checked October 27, 2026
- New NHS nursing uniforms make senior nurses 'more visible' (RCNi, 15 Apr 2025)checked October 27, 2026
- Modern Matron job advert (The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust, NHS Jobs)checked October 27, 2026
- DL(2018)4: NHSScotland national uniform and dress code (Scottish Government)checked October 27, 2026