The NHS belongs to the individuals.

It is there to enhance our health and wellness, supporting us to keep psychologically and physically well, to improve when we are ill and, when we can not totally recover, to remain in addition to we can to the end of our lives. It operates at the limitations of science - bringing the greatest levels of human knowledge and skill to conserve lives and enhance health. It touches our lives sometimes of standard human need, when care and empathy are what matter most.

The NHS is established on a typical set of concepts and values that bind together the neighborhoods and people it serves - patients and public - and the staff who work for it.

This Constitution develops the principles and worths of the NHS in England. It sets out rights to which clients, public and staff are entitled, and promises which the NHS is committed to attain, together with duties, which the general public, patients and personnel owe to one another to make sure that the NHS runs relatively and effectively. The Secretary of State for Health, all NHS bodies, personal and voluntary sector service providers supplying NHS services, and regional authorities in the exercise of their public health functions are needed by law to appraise this Constitution in their decisions and actions. References in this file to the NHS and NHS services include local authority public health services, however references to NHS bodies do not include local authorities. Where there are distinctions of information these are explained in the Handbook to the Constitution.

The Constitution will be restored every ten years, with the participation of the public, clients and personnel. It is accompanied by the Handbook to the NHS Constitution, to be renewed at least every 3 years, setting out existing guidance on the rights, pledges, duties and responsibilities developed by the Constitution. These requirements for renewal are legally binding. They guarantee that the principles and values which underpin the NHS go through regular review and re-commitment