Top tips for bringing the NHS Constitution to life for your staff and the patients they care for.
1. Include information on the NHS Constitution in your education programmes and conferences.
2. Think about how the NHS Constitution can reinforce important messages around choice, dignity and respect. You may already be running campaigns around these areas of staff interest - can you link them into a broader campaign around the Constitution?
3. Work with Local Involvement Networks, other community groups and third sector organisations to make the Constitution's rights and pledges meaningful to local people.
4. Liaise with Local Involvement Networks and staff/patient advocacy groups to promote awareness of the rights and pledges. Primary care trusts may already have appointed Constitution champions. Get to know them and work with them to agree a local action plan to support communications about the Constitution.
5. Invite staff and patients to share their personal stories at Board meetings where these illustrate ways in which delivering on Constitution pledges can be improved.
6. Use your annual report to explain how you are using the NHS Constitution to help your organisation deliver. See our NHS Constitution toolkit page for more advice on how to do this.
7. Link you local values to the NHS Constitution. See our local values case studies to see how some NHS organisations have done this.
8. Primary care trusts and strategic health authorities should develop NHS Constitution communications and engagement strategies for GPs and GP practice staff. All providers of primary care, notably GPs have an important role in raising awareness of the NHS Constitution in local communities.
9. Make sure that staff are aware of the steps they can take if they believe that their organisation is not 'having regard to' the Constitution.
10. Ensure that your staff are aware of the staff rights and pledges in the Constitution and work with your local staff side organisations to help put these into practice at a local level.
Practical tools to help you implement the NHS Constitution locally.
Our NHS Constitution toolkit page provides you with many of the communciation tools that you need to implement the NHS Constitution locally. There are poster templates, a powerpoint presentation, short films and various guides that you will find helpful in taking this work forward.
See our toolkit page for more information.