NHS

For Published

Patients and the public in England, plus NHS staff and organisations who apply the identity

Problem Published

People need to know quickly whether a service or piece of information is genuinely from the NHS.

Promise Our reading

If it carries the NHS Identity, you can rely on it.

Mission Published

Signpost people to NHS organisations and services and help them identify official NHS information.

Proof behind each pillar

• Recognition. 98% prompted awareness of the NHS lozenge (public research, 2015).
• Recognition. 87% spontaneous awareness of the blue and white colours of the logo (public research, 2015).
• Consistency. 98% prompted awareness of the NHS lozenge (public research, 2015).
• Plain help. Content aims at a reading age of 9 to 11; clinicians check clinical information.
• Everyone counts. Six NHS values from the NHS Constitution sit behind the identity.

Story Published

A single NHS Identity was introduced in England in 1999. Research shows people see the NHS as one national, unified service and want its identity applied consistently; that consistency reassures them about the quality of care.

Values

Category. Public national health service (England) Published

Why them

1. One identity across every NHS organisation; no alternative logos permitted. Published
2. A legally protected name and logo (UK trade marks, copyright). Published
3. Plain, clinically checked content written for a reading age of 9 to 11. Published
4. Accessibility built into the palette: every colour offers at least AA. Published

Instead of

Private healthcare providers and non-NHS health information sources (the identity exists to distinguish the NHS from them).

Boilerplate Published

The NHS Identity is the visual signpost to NHS organisations and services in England, introduced in 1999 so people can recognise information that comes from an official NHS source. It is managed by NHS England on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care.

Taglines

They never claim

• Suppliers may state they supplied the NHS only in plain descriptive text; never "approved", "endorsed", "certified" or "authorised". Published
• The NHS does not endorse third-party goods or services. Published
• Only original artwork for the NHS logo; never recreate it. Published

The identity is a signpost, not a campaign: its job is to show that something comes from the NHS. The homepage leads with what the reader can do (find information and services) rather than a slogan.

Source: england.nhs.uk/nhsidentity/why-its-importantengland.nhs.uk/nhsidentity/identity-guidelines/visual-styles-graphic-devices-and-straplinesengland.nhs.uk/nhsidentity/identity-guidelines/who-cannot-use-the-nhs-identitynhs.uk

• Sentence case headlines
• British spelling
• Write as “we”, to “you”
• Sentences of 20 words or fewer
• No exclamation marks
• Never: should. Say say what to do, e.g. "talk to your doctor about"
• Never: don't, can't, won't, shouldn't. Say do not, cannot
• Say “have / get”, not “experience”
• Short paragraphs of up to 3 sentences; use subheadings and bulleted lists
• Active voice: "find a pharmacy", not "a pharmacy can be found"
• Factual, neutral, unambiguous; no metaphors; say what you mean
• Use "good", "bad" or "easy" with care; give the evidence or the number instead
• Plain English term first, then the medical term in brackets
• Use positive contractions (you'll, we'll, you're); avoid should've, could've, would've
• No block capitals; sentence case everywhere including page titles
• No full stops in headings, buttons, action links or single-sentence link cards
• Straight, not curly, apostrophes
• Avoid dashes; if needed, an en dash (–). Avoid hyphens unless the meaning needs one
• Conditions and generic drug names lower case unless a proper name (type 1 diabetes, Parkinson's disease)
• Use precise numbers in context ("4 out of 5 people recover fully in a week") rather than vague reassurance
• Aim for a reading age of 9 to 11; where clinical content makes that hard, 11 to 14
• Avoid jargon, acronyms and unnecessary technical language
• Empower: "talk to your doctor about…" rather than "your doctor will tell you about…"
• On difficult subjects, show genuine understanding and respect; leave the reader informed and empowered

ClearReassuringPersonalFactualEmpowering

Two published sources agree: the identity guide asks for clear, concise, honest, respectful, accessible writing that could be read aloud to one person; the service manual sets a neutral, factual, calm and reassuring voice that is personal and empowering. Tone flexes by the reader's situation.

• Address the reader as "you"
• Sentences up to 20 words, paragraphs up to 3 sentences
• Plain English first, then the medical term
• Use "do not", never "don't"
• Sentence case everywhere; no block capitals
• No full stops in headings, buttons or link cards

• Neutral and factual; authoritative but calm and reassuring (service manual voice).
• Empowering rather than patronising, personal rather than formal; address the reader as "you".
• Written communications should be clear, concise, straightforward, honest, open, professional, respectful and accessible (identity guide, aligned with the NHS Constitution).
• Write so it could be read aloud to one person.
• Tone shifts with the reader's state: direct, serious and reassuring for a diagnosis; encouraging and conversational for exercise or diet.
• Plain English first, medical term second, e.g. piles (haemorrhoids). Reading age 9 to 11 where possible.

Source: england.nhs.uk/nhsidentity/identity-guidelines/tone-of-voiceservice-manual.nhs.uk/content/voice-and-toneservice-manual.nhs.uk/content/how-we-writeservice-manual.nhs.uk/content/punctuationservice-manual.nhs.uk/content/numbers-measurements-dates-time

The NHS logo (the lozenge) is the white letters NHS in a solid NHS Blue rectangle. It is the only logo the NHS in England uses; alternative logos for teams, buildings or programmes are not permitted. Use of the identity is restricted: NHS organisations must use it; third-party providers only on the NHS services they deliver; suppliers and endorsements may not use it at all.

Source: england.nhs.uk/nhsidentity/identity-guidelines/nhs-logoengland.nhs.uk/nhsidentity/identity-guidelines/who-can-use-the-nhs-identityengland.nhs.uk/nhsidentity/identity-guidelines/who-cannot-use-the-nhs-identityengland.nhs.uk/nhsidentity/identity-guidelines/visual-styles-graphic-devices-and-straplines

NHS Blue #005EB8 and white dominate; four supporting levels follow in decreasing emphasis: Level 1 blues, Level 2 neutrals, Level 3 support greens, Level 4 highlights (minimal, never large blocks). Online, NHS.UK frontend maps this to a digital palette: text #212B32, secondary text #4C6272, grey-5 #F0F4F5 page ground with white cards and alternating white bands, links NHS Blue, buttons green #007F3B, focus yellow #FFEB3B.

Not published: exact proportions of the emphasis chart (shown as a chart, no percentages); a hex for Euro Ambulance Yellow (RAL 1016 only).

Source: england.nhs.uk/nhsidentity/identity-guidelines/coloursservice-manual.nhs.uk/design-system/styles/colourgithub.com/nhsuk/nhsuk-frontend/blob/main/packages/nhsuk-frontend/src/nhsuk/core/settings/_colours-palette.scssgithub.com/nhsuk/nhsuk-frontend/blob/main/packages/nhsuk-frontend/src/nhsuk/core/settings/_colours-applied.scss

Frutiger since 1999: 65 Bold for titles, 55 Roman for body, 45 Light for very large titling. Arial is the secondary font when Frutiger is unavailable. No other fonts, even for children's materials (foreign-language fonts excepted). Online: Frutiger W01 at 400 and 600, with a published responsive scale (64/48/36/26/22/19/16/14 at tablet and up).

Source: england.nhs.uk/nhsidentity/identity-guidelines/fontsservice-manual.nhs.uk/design-system/styles/typographygithub.com/nhsuk/nhsuk-frontend/blob/main/packages/nhsuk-frontend/src/nhsuk/core/settings/_typography.scssgithub.com/nhsuk/nhsuk-frontend/blob/main/packages/nhsuk-frontend/src/nhsuk/core/settings/_globals.scss

The identity deliberately has few graphic elements: the logo, NHS Blue fields and Frutiger do the work. Organisations may add graphic devices, straplines and imagery for a visual style, but not near the logo, and on websites the top of the page stays clear of them. Online, the signature elements are functional: the solid NHS Blue header, white square cards on a grey-5 ground, green circle-arrow action links, blue chevron-in-circle cards, the 4px yellow focus ring.

Source: england.nhs.uk/nhsidentity/identity-guidelines/visual-styles-graphic-devices-and-straplinesservice-manual.nhs.uk/design-system/styles/iconsnhs.uk

A small functional set in NHS.UK frontend: left/right arrows, right arrow in a circle (action links that start a service), right chevron in a circle (primary cards), tick and cross, search, user, plus BSL icons.

Source: service-manual.nhs.uk/design-system/styles/iconsgithub.com/nhsuk/nhsuk-frontend/blob/main/packages/nhsuk-frontend/src/nhsuk/core/settings/_globals.scssengland.nhs.uk/nhsidentity/identity-guidelines/visual-styles-graphic-devices-and-straplines

No illustration style is published. The colour palette applies to illustrations (skin tones excepted).

Source: england.nhs.uk/nhsidentity/identity-guidelines/coloursengland.nhs.uk/nhsidentity/identity-guidelines/imagery

Photography must reflect the diversity of patients, public and staff, show the NHS treating and preventing ill health, look professional, and feature real NHS patients and staff where possible, with consent. The palette does not apply to portrait photography; abstract images must follow it.

Source: england.nhs.uk/nhsidentity/identity-guidelines/imageryengland.nhs.uk/nhsidentity/identity-guidelines/colours

Not published. Neither the identity guidelines nor the service manual define a motion system.

Source: england.nhs.uk/nhsidentityservice-manual.nhs.uk