(c) MRSA Action UK June 2008
Access to health services
You have the right:
- to receive NHS services free of charge, apart from certain limited exceptions sanctioned by Parliament
- to access local NHS services. You will 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
- not to be unlawfully discriminated against in the provision of NHS services including on grounds of gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, disability (including learning disability or mental illness)
The NHS will strive:
- to provide convenient, easy access to services within the waiting times set out in the Handbook to the NHS Constitution
- to make decisions in a clear and transparent way, so that patients and the public can understand how services are planned and delivered
- to make the transition as smooth as possible when you are referred between services, and to include you in relevant discussions
Quality of care and environment
You have the right:
- to be treated with a professional standard of care, by appropriately qualified and experienced staff, in a properly approved or registered organisation
- to expect NHS organisations to monitor, and make efforts to improve the quality of healthcare they provide, taking account of the applicable standards
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
- for continuous improvement in the quality of services you receive, identifying and sharing best practice in quality of care and treatments
Nationally approved treatments, drugs and programmes
You have the right:
- to drugs and treatments that have been recommended by NICE2 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
The NHS will strive:
- always to provide vaccination and screening programmes as recommended by the appropriate national advisory bodies
Respect, consent and confidentiality
You have the right:
- to be treated with dignity and respect
- to accept or refuse treatment that is offered to you, and not to be given any physical examination or treatment unless you have given valid consent. If you do not have the capacity to do so, consent must be obtained from a person legally able to act on your behalf, or the treatment must be in your best interests
- to be given information about your proposed treatment in advance, including any significant risks and any
alternative treatments which may be available, and the risks involved in doing nothing - to privacy and confidentiality
- to access your own health records. These will always be used to manage your treatment in your best interests
The NHS will strive:
- to share with you any letters sent between clinicians about your care
Informed choice
You have the right:
- to choose your GP practice, and to be accepted by that practice unless there are reasonable grounds to refuse, in which case you will be informed of those reasons
- to express a preference for using a particular doctor within your GP practice, and for the practice to try to comply
- to make choices about your NHS care. The options available to you will develop over time and depend on your individual needs. Details are set out in the Handbook to the NHS Constitution
The NHS will strive:
- to inform you about what healthcare services are available to you, locally and nationally
- to offer you easily accessible information to enable you to participate fully in your own healthcare decisions and to support you in making choices. This will include information on the quality of clinical services where there is robust and accurate information available
Involvement in your healthcare and in the NHS
You have the right:
- to be involved in discussions and decisions about your healthcare, and to be given information to enable you to do this
- to be involved, directly or through representatives, in the planning of healthcare services, the development and consideration of proposals for changes in the way those services are provided, and in decisions to be made affecting the operation of those services
The NHS will strive:
- to provide you with the information you need to participate effectively to influence the planning and delivery of NHS services
- to work in partnership with you, your family and carers
Complaint and redress
You have the right:
- to have any complaint you make about NHS services dealt with efficiently and to have it properly investigated
- to know the outcome of any investigation into your complaint
- to take your complaint to the Health Service Ombudsman where you have exhausted any other rights of appeal or review
- to make a claim for judicial review if you think you have been directly affected by an unlawful NHS decision or action
- to compensation where you have been harmed by negligent treatment
The NHS will strive:
- to ensure that if you make a complaint, you will receive a timely and appropriate response, that any harm you suffered is corrected where possible, and that the organisation learns lessons and puts in place necessary improvements
- to ensure that you receive appropriate support and are treated with respect and courtesy throughout the handling of any complaint you make; and the fact that you have complained will not affect your future treatment
Key rights
- Your right to drugs approved for NHS use, if recommended by your doctor, and to an explanation of all decisions made about
funding your treatment - which means that
decisions will be clear and rational, not a
'lottery' of access - Your right to make choices about your NHS care and to be given the information you need to do that - which means that you can be informed about, and involved in, your own healthcare
- Your right to have your say in the planning
and development of local services - which
means that your local NHS should reflect
what you think is important
