A band of nurses at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital are furious after management introduced a ban on bright-coloured uniforms.

Until recently, nurses wore what amounted to ward colours -- depending on the section they worked in.

But now many have been ordered into white by April 1 -- and they're not happy about it.

One nurse said many nurses paid for their own uniforms, which meant they would have to dump all the ones they have at the moment and spend a small fortune on white ones.

A shop assistant at Medical House suppliers said a single day's outfit of white pants and shirt would cost between $50 and $70 or $45 for a dress -- which was less popular these days.

In addition, the management are clamping down on makeup, nails and jewellery to forge some sort of "corporate identity,'' the nurses claimed.

But a hospital spokeswoman last night said a committee which included nursing representatives was set up a year ago and had decided to reinstate a lapsed hospital policy on uniforms which had been in place for many years.

She said: "We've had many people express concern that they've been lying in hospital and they have nurses, orderlies, aides and auxiliary staff all talking to them and they need to know which is their nurse. It's that practical.'' She said the issue was much more complex as the hospital paid for a certain number of uniforms for some staff -- so those nurses would not be burdened with the cost.

Only 100 of the roughly 300 nurses were bound by the all-white ruling with others allowed to wear a combination of white and their department colour.

But the nurses said not only was an all-white uniform policy unnecessary, but that white was a stupid colour -- since they had to launder the garments themselves.

Feelings are running high -- with a questionnaire already circulated among nurses to gauge feeling with a view to industrial action and a union meeting to be held at the hospital today to address the issue.