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What are the seven values enshrined in the NHS Constitution?

The seven values are: comprehensive service available to all; access based on clinical need not ability to pay; aspiration to the highest standards of excellence and professionalism; the patient at the heart of everything; working across organizational boundaries; providing best value for taxpayers' money; and accountability to the public, communities, and patients.

The NHS Constitution sets out seven values that frame adult nursing practice in the UK: it provides a comprehensive service available to everyone; access is based on clinical need rather than ability to pay; it aims for the highest standards of excellence and professionalism; the patient is central to all NHS activity; the NHS works across organizational boundaries; it is committed to best value for taxpayers' money; and it is accountable to the public, communities, and patients it serves.

Key points

  • The NHS Constitution contains seven values.
  • Service is comprehensive and available to all.
  • Access depends on clinical need, not payment.
  • Excellence, professionalism, and patient-centeredness are core.
  • Working across boundaries and value for money are included.
  • The NHS is accountable to the public and patients.
Source:Oxford Handbook of Adult Nursing, Third Edition· Adult nursing in context· p. 40
Cover of Oxford Handbook of Adult Nursing, Third Edition

Oxford Handbook of Adult Nursing, Third Edition

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Third Edition · Oxford University Press

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