NHS nurses have been told to not wear their uniforms in public after some had been discriminated against and verbally abused in public, spat at, and called even “disease spreaders”.

“Until further notice, can all nurses no longer wear their uniforms to travel to and from their place of work… There have been reported cases of some nurses being challenged by the public so this is not just to protect you from carrying anything on your uniforms but potential abuse,” said an email sent to nurses on Thursday and reported on Monday.

In response to the email, one nurse told The Times: “I’m not surprised, sadly. I know people are worried and upset and we are easy targets. We’ve also been told to hide our ID badges, be careful when using them to access areas — only show them to official NHS staff and for work purposes, ie showing it to the patient.”

In March, Susan Masters, the Royal College of Nursing’s director of policy, had said: “I hear from community nurses that they are being heckled at and verbally abused in the street and called ‘disease spreaders’. This is abhorrent behaviour. It must stop.”

Last week, nurses were told not to wear their NHS identity badges in public because thugs had been stealing them in order to access the free food, drinks, and priority shopping hours that British retailers are offering medical staff, while reprobates had tried to mug two doctors leaving Lewisham hospital of their badges in London.

“This is absolutely grim. ID badges are being stolen in a few places as staff come out of their trust. As soon as staff are coming off-site they are waiting for them and stealing them, to get the free food and also so they can go shopping during the protected early morning shopping hour that some supermarkets have put in place for NHS staff.

“It’s mainly nurses who have been targeted. They’re the ones who often walk out of the main entrance of a hospital with their lanyards on,” an NHS official had said.

Criminals had also attacked ambulances in Kent, drilling holes into the tires of six vehicles. While in Bristol, “youths” had set two Iceland supermarket delivery vans on fire.

“Two of our vans in Southmead were burnt out last night during disturbances in the town. At a time when home delivery is literally a lifeline for some vulnerable people, this is sickening,” the budget supermarket’s CEO had said.