Sources for Care and treatment: your rights and choices

Our Care and treatment: your rights and choices information is based on the NHS Constitution, the Handbook to the NHS Constitution, the NICE* clinical guideline on epilepsy and the Equality Act 2010. Some of the information in this document applies to England but may not apply to how the NHS operates in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. 

The NHS Constitution

The NHS Constitution aims to set out clearly what patients, the public, and staff can expect from the NHS and what the NHS expects from them in return. The Constitution includes rights (what you can legally expect), pledges (what the NHS is committed to achieving), and responsibilities (to and from patients, the public, and staff). The Constitution aims to ensure better treatment within, by, and of the NHS. The Constitution applies to everyone entitled to NHS services in England.

The Handbook to the NHS Constitution

The Handbook to the NHS Constitution gives further information and detail about the rights and pledges in the NHS Constitution and what these mean for NHS patients and staff.

Nice clinical guideline on epilepsy

NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) is the organisation that publishes national guidance and standards on the promotion of good health and the prevention and treatment of ill health. It produces guidelines on different health conditions, including the clinical guideline ‘Epilepsies in children, young people, and adults’, which was last updated in April 2022.

Although ‘guidance’ (and not ‘the law’), NICE clinical guidelines give best practice advice, are produced by experts in the topic, and all their information and recommendations are thoroughly researched and based on the best available evidence.

NICE also publishes ‘technology appraisal’ guidance (TAs). This type of guidance evaluates the clinical and cost effectiveness of different medicines, tests, or devices, so that patients receive the best treatments, and the NHS makes the best use of its resources. They are often done for new treatments so that these can be recommended within the NHS. NICE uses evidence for the appraisal, which is reviewed and evaluated by an independent review group to look at the benefits and costs.

NICE healthcare guidance is for England and Wales. Northern Ireland’s Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety uses NICE guidelines where relevant for Northern Ireland. For Scotland see the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) at sign.ac.uk

The Equality Act 2010

The Equality Act 2010 combines nine anti-discrimination laws (including the Disability Discrimination Act) into a single law. It protects people from unfair discrimination and promotes equal opportunities. It also protects people such as carers, who are associated with another person, from discrimination. The Equality Act 2010 covers England, Scotland, and Wales.

Information updated: March 2023