The NHS Constitution establishes the principles and values of the NHS in England.
It sets out rights and responsibilities of patients, the public and staff as well as the pledges which the NHS is committed to achieve. The Trust is embarking on a communications campaign to ensure that our patients and staff are aware of the constitution and what it means in terms of the quality of patient care that we provide.
The following pages are from the NHS Constitution and are also available from the Department of Health NHS Constitution for England page.
The NHS belongs to the people.
The NHS constitution. The NHS belongs to us all.It 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.
In line with the NHS Constitution, the Trust has a Patient Access & Choice Policy. This policy outlines the way in which Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital (RNOH) manages the administration of patients who are waiting for or undergoing treatment on an admitted, non-admitted or diagnostic pathway. The focus of the policy is on fair, equal and timely access to treatment for patients based on clinical urgency, as well as compliance with national waiting times.