Activity: Hospital Uniform Colouring In

A comprehension activity where students read a short amount of text about different roles in the NHS and then colour the blank uniform to match the information in the text. It introduces a small number of NHS roles and helps students meet the Careers curriculum requirements.

Wearing a uniform is really important in the NHS. 90% of our clinical staff (that is, staff who work with patients to diagnose and treat them) have to wear a uniform. The uniform is a sign of their profession, role and seniority. It helps our patients identify who is who and what staff can help them with. The uniform is also really important as it helps our staff identify each other and what each person does: in an emergency situation you don’t want to have to introduce yourself to everyone, but with uniforms staff can tell, at a glance, what different people are trained to do. The uniform is also really important for security purposes and adds an additional layer of protection for our patients: if the member of staff is wearing the wrong uniform, they shouldn’t be treating you!

There are different uniforms for each NHS profession (e.g. nurse, physiotherapist, healthcare support worker) and NHS staff need to learn what each uniform represents! Hospitals will have different uniforms between each other - a nurse in Birmingham will probably wear something different to a nurse in London. This worksheet is based on the uniforms worn at York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals Trust.