The NHS belongs to the individuals.

It is there to enhance our health and health and wellbeing, supporting us to keep psychologically and physically well, to improve when we are ill and, when we can not fully recuperate, to stay along with we can to the end of our lives. It works at the limits of science - bringing the greatest levels of human knowledge and skill to conserve lives and improve health. It touches our lives at times of fundamental human requirement, when care and compassion are what matter most.

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

This Constitution develops the concepts and values of the NHS in England. It sets out rights to which clients, public and staff are entitled, and promises which the NHS is dedicated to attain, together with duties, which the public, clients and personnel owe to one another to guarantee that the NHS runs fairly and efficiently. The Secretary of State for Health, all NHS bodies, personal and voluntary sector companies supplying NHS services, and regional authorities in the exercise of their public health functions are needed by law to appraise this Constitution in their choices and actions. References in this document to the NHS and NHS services include regional authority public health services, however references to NHS bodies do not include local authorities. Where there are distinctions of information these are described in the Handbook to the Constitution.

The Constitution will be renewed every ten years, with the involvement of the general public, clients and personnel. It is accompanied by the Handbook to the NHS Constitution, to be restored a minimum of every 3 years, setting out existing assistance on the rights, pledges, tasks and duties established by the Constitution. These requirements for renewal are legally binding. They ensure that the concepts and worths which underpin the NHS go through regular review and re-commitment