Read the Constitution

The draft NHS Constitution published today is a six-page document setting out new legally enforceable rights and pledges for patients and health service staff. These include:

Rights for patients:

You have the right:

- to receive NHS services free of charge, apart from certain limited exceptions sanctioned by Parliament

- to access local NHS services and not be refused access on unreasonable grounds

- to expect your local NHS to assess the health requirements of the local community and to put in place the services to meet those needs as considered necessary.

- to seek treatment elsewhere in Europe if you are entitled to NHS treatment but you face undue delay in receiving that treatment.

- to drugs and treatments that have been recommended for use in the NHS, if your doctor says they are clinically appropriate for you.

- to expect local decisions on funding of other drugs and treatments to be made rationally following a proper consideration of the evidence. If the local NHS decides not to fund a drug or treatment you and your doctor feel would be right for you, they will explain that decision to you.

Pledges include:

The NHS will strive to make decisions in a clear and transparent way, so that patients and the public can understand how services are planned and delivered.

The NHS will strive to make the transition as smooth as possible when you are referred between services, and to include you in relevant discussions.

The NHS will strive to ensure that services are provided in a clean and safe environment that is fit for purpose, based on national best practice.

The NHS will strive for continuous improvement in the quality of services you receive, identifying and sharing best practice in quality of care and treatments.

The document also outlines seven “key principles that guide the NHS”; including that it provide “a comprehensive service, available to all”, “aspires to high standards of excellence”, and that it “must reflect the needs and preferences of patients, their families and their carers”.

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