The NHS is there to improve our health and well-being,
supporting us to keep mentally and physically well, to get better
when we are ill and, when we cannot fully recover, to stay as well
as we can to the end of our lives. It works at the limits of
science – bringing the highest levels of human knowledge and skill
to save lives and improve health. It touches our lives at times of
basic human need, when care and compassion are what matter
most.
The NHS is founded on a common set of principles and values that
bind together the communities and people it serves – patients and
public – and the staff who work for it.
This Constitution establishes the principles and values of the
NHS in England. It sets out rights to which patients, public and
staff are entitled, and pledges which the NHS is committed to
achieve, together with responsibilities which the public, patients
and staff owe to one another to ensure that the NHS operates fairly
and effectively. All NHS bodies and private and third sector
providers supplying NHS services will be required by law to take
account of this Constitution in their decisions and actions.
The Constitution will be renewed every 10 years, with the
involvement of the public, patients and staff. It will be
accompanied by the Handbook to the NHS Constitution, to be renewed
at least every three years, setting out current guidance on the
rights, pledges, duties and responsibilities established by the
Constitution. These requirements for renewal will be made legally
binding. They will guarantee that the principles and values which
underpin the NHS are subject to regular review and recommitment;
and that any government which seeks to alter the principles or
values of the NHS, or the rights, pledges, duties and
responsibilities set out in this Constitution, will have to engage
in a full and transparent debate with the public, patients and
staff.