NHS values

—working together for patients. Patients come first in everything we do • respect and dignity. We value every person – whether patient, their families or carers, or staff – as an individual, respect their aspirations and commitments in life, and seek to understand their priorities, needs, abilities and limits • commitment to quality of care. We earn the trust placed in us by insisting on quality and striving to get the basics of quality of care – safety, effectiveness and patient experience right every time • compassion. We ensure that compassion is central to the care we provide and respond with humanity and kindness to each person’s pain, distress, anxiety or need • improving lives. We strive to improve health and wellbeing and people’s experiences of the NHS • everyone counts. We maximise our resources for the benefit of the whole community, and make sure nobody is excluded, discriminated against or left behind

• General medical council: duties of a doctor

Knowledge, skills and development • Provide a good standard of practice and care, and work within your competence. • Keep your knowledge and skills up to date. Patients, partnership and communication • Respect every patient’s dignity and treat them as an individual. • Listen to patients and work in partnership with them, supporting them to make informed decisions about their care. • Protect patients’ personal information from improper disclosure. Colleagues, culture and safety • Work with colleagues in ways that best serve the interests of patients, being willing to lead or follow as circumstances require. • Be willing to share your knowledge, skills and experience with colleagues, whether informally or through teaching, training, mentoring or coaching. • Treat people with respect and help to create a working and training environment that is compassionate, supportive and fair, where everyone feels safe to ask questions, talk about errors and raise concerns.  • Act promptly if you think that patient safety or dignity may be seriously compromised. • Take care of your own health and wellbeing needs, recognising and taking appropriate action if you may not be fit to work. Trust and professionalism • Act with honesty and integrity, and be open if things go wrong.  • Protect and promote the health of patients and the public. • Never unfairly discriminate against patients or colleagues. • Never abuse patients’ trust in you or the public’s trust in your profession.