Written question asked by Lord Lansley (Conservative) on Wednesday, 2 July 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 7 July 2008. It was answered by Ivan Lewis (Labour) on Wednesday, 9 July 2008 on behalf of the Department of Health.

NHS

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what representations he has received on the case for introducing an NHS constitution in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement;

Answer: The draft national health service constitution presented for consultation builds on an extensive development process, including a literature review, discussions with patients, the public and staff, contributions from a wide range of experts and think-tanks, and a major deliberative event with stakeholders in February 2008. Early drafts of the constitution were tested with these stakeholders, with experts and with patients, the public and staff. Patient and public groups told us it was useful to summarise their key rights in one place.The research to establish a set of NHS-wide values involved over 9,000 staff and over 5,500 patients and members of the public, as well as evidence from existing surveys of over 1 million patients.

Secondary information