Sector guide · Healthcare & care
Healthcare kit is judged by two audiences at once: the infection-control audit and the person wearing it for twelve hours. The garments that survive both — scrubs, tunics, washable footwear — are chosen on fabric, wash temperature and fit, not looks.
The choice
Scrubs — loose top and trousers, pocketed, unisex — are the default where clothing changes happen on site and garments cycle through pooled laundry: wards, theatres, dental surgeries, veterinary practice. They're cheap enough to own in numbers and cut for movement.
Tunics — structured, fitted, usually worn with your own trousers — dominate where staff present to the public all day: clinics, care homes, community nursing, salons crossing into aesthetics. They hold their shape through a shift, carry piping or trim for role colour-coding, and read as professional in a way a scrub top doesn't.
Neither is "better" — plenty of employers issue tunics to front-of-house clinical staff and scrubs to everyone behind the doors. The real constants are below: fabric weight, wash survival and fit.
Infection control
Kit list
The sector splits by setting more than by job title.
| Setting | Core kit | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Hospital ward / theatre | Scrub sets, washable SRC/SR footwear | Pooled laundry; colour by department |
| Care home | Tunics with role-colour trim, comfort-stretch trousers | Public-facing all shift; names and logos embroidered |
| Community & domiciliary care | Tunic or polo + softshell or fleece for travel | The car is part of the workplace — layer for it |
| Clinic / dental / veterinary | Scrubs or tunics by front/back of house | Short cycles, high garment turnover |
| Support services (porters, housekeeping) | Polos or sweatshirts, service-colour coded | Same laundering rules as clinical wear |
On their feet
Twelve-hour shifts on hard flooring make footwear the item staff care most about — and the one policies say least about. The working spec: washable upper (spills happen), slip-rated sole (an SR mark on safety styles, or dedicated slip-rated occupational shoes where no toe cap is needed), closed toe, and cushioning that survives concrete-under-vinyl. Where portering or stores work involves real impact risk, that's an S2 washable safety shoe rather than a trainer-style clog.
Questions
Scrubs are loose two-piece sets built for on-site changing and pooled hot laundering — the wards-and-theatres default. Tunics are structured, fitted garments worn with your own trousers, favoured in care homes and clinics where staff face the public all day and role colour-coding matters.
The common benchmark for used healthcare textiles is a 60 °C wash, which is why healthcare garments are cut in poly-cotton blends rated for repeated hot cycles. Follow your employer's uniform and laundering policy — and buy garments that can take it.
Enough to change at work and never re-wear between washes — in practice three to five sets per person depending on shift pattern and laundry turnaround. Under-issuing sets is the most common way uniform policies fail in practice.
Washable uppers, slip-rated soles, closed toes and real cushioning — 12-hour shifts on hard floors are the design brief. Roles with impact risk (porters, stores) step up to an S2 washable safety shoe.
Send the headcount and the roles — we'll come back with a kit list, embroidery options and trade-account pricing.