Patients receiving hospital care in England have rights covering treatment standards, decisions about care, access to information and what happens if something goes wrong.

Many of these rights are set out in the NHS Constitution for England. They apply across NHS healthcare services, while the Care Quality Commission (CQC) fundamental standards set minimum requirements for each registered organisation providing regulated care.

In this guide, our clinical negligence team explains the main rights patients have when receiving hospital care, the standards you should be able to expect, how consent, information and access to records should be handled, and what options are available if you are unhappy with the care you received.

A breach of a patient right does not automatically amount to medical negligence. However, if substandard hospital care caused avoidable harm, you may wish to seek advice about a medical negligence claim.

What rights do NHS hospital patients have?

NHS hospital patients in England have rights that include the right to:

• Receive NHS services free of charge, apart from limited exceptions set by law.
• Access services provided by the NHS without being refused on unreasonable grounds.
• Receive safe care from appropriately qualified and experienced staff.
• Be treated with dignity and respect.
• Receive care in a clean, safe and suitable environment.
• Receive clear information about proposed treatment, significant risks and reasonable alternatives.
• Give valid consent and, where you have capacity, accept or refuse treatment.
• Be involved in decisions about your own care.
• Access your own health records and ask for factual inaccuracies to be corrected.
• Expect confidential information about you to be kept secure.
• Make certain choices about NHS services and providers.
• Make a complaint and have it properly investigated.
• Seek compensation where negligent treatment has caused harm.

These rights sit alongside patient responsibilities, but those responsibilities do not remove the NHS's duty to provide appropriate care.

What standard of hospital care are patients entitled to?

Patients have the right to a professional standard of care from appropriately qualified and experienced staff. This applies to doctors, surgeons, nurses and other healthcare staff involved in care and treatment.

The CQC's fundamental standards require person-centred, safe care delivered with dignity and respect. Hospitals must respect individual health requirements, meet health and safety requirements, provide suitable NHS premises and equipment, protect patients from abuse and neglect, and have enough suitably qualified staff.

Doctors, surgeons and nurses are expected to accept professional accountability for their care and meet standards set by the appropriate regulatory body. NHS bodies must also monitor and improve safety, effectiveness and patient experience.

If hospital care falls below a reasonable professional standard and causes avoidable injury, the circumstances may justify investigating a hospital negligence claim.

Are there five care standards patients should expect?

There is no official NHS list limited to five care standards. The CQC instead sets wider fundamental standards covering person-centred care, dignity and respect, consent, safety, safeguarding, staffing, complaints and duty of candour.

The duty of candour means healthcare providers must be open and honest with patients when something goes wrong with their care and causes, or could cause, significant harm. In practice, this can include telling the patient what has happened, apologising, explaining what is known about the incident and outlining any further action being taken. It is intended to help patients understand what went wrong and what will happen next. 

What are your rights when decisions are made about treatment?

Doctors, surgeons and nurses should involve patients in decisions about care and explain test and treatment options clearly enough for them to make informed choices.

Where you have capacity, you have the right to accept or refuse treatment. Valid consent must be voluntary and informed, and you must have the capacity to make the decision. This applies to a physical examination as well as tests, procedures and other treatment. The NHS guidance on consent to treatment explains that you should be told what treatment involves, the expected benefits and risks, reasonable alternatives and what may happen if treatment does not go ahead.

You can withdraw consent before treatment. Different rules apply if a person lacks capacity, when decisions may need to be made in their best interests.

What are your rights to privacy and medical information?

Patients have the right to privacy and confidentiality. The NHS should keep confidential information secure and explain how that information is used.

You also have the right to access your own health records and ask for factual inaccuracies to be corrected. Hospital records may include clinical notes, test results, scan reports, operation notes, discharge information and correspondence about your care.

If you want copies of hospital records, NHS England advises contacting the records manager or patient services manager at the relevant hospital trust. You may also be able to see some hospital and specialist documents through the NHS App. Read NHS England's guidance on accessing medical records.

What rights do patients have around NHS access and waiting times?

Patients have the right to receive NHS services free of charge, apart from limited legal exceptions, and to access NHS services without being refused on unreasonable grounds. NHS services dealt with through different referral or treatment routes remain subject to these overarching access principles.

For eligible non-urgent consultant-led treatment, the NHS Constitution gives patients the right to start treatment within a maximum of 18 weeks from referral, subject to stated exceptions. If that cannot be achieved, the NHS must take reasonable steps to offer a suitable alternative provider.

For urgent suspected cancer referrals, the current right is to be told whether cancer has been diagnosed or ruled out within a maximum of 28 days from receipt of the referral. The Handbook to the NHS Constitution explains these waiting-time rights and exceptions.

Can you choose which hospital or doctor treats you?

Patients have certain rights to make choices about NHS care, although those rights are not unlimited.

If you are referred to a specialist for your first outpatient appointment, you may have the right to choose which hospital in England you attend and which consultant-led team takes responsibility for your treatment. The NHS guidance on referrals for specialist care explains when these choices apply.

Patients can also choose a GP practice and express a preference for a particular doctor within that practice, although there may be reasonable grounds for a request to be refused.

Do patients have a right to particular medicines or treatments?

The NHS Constitution gives patients the right to drugs and treatments recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for NHS use where their doctor considers them clinically appropriate. This helps ensure that properly approved treatment recommendations are considered consistently across NHS services.

Local NHS bodies should also make rational funding decisions about other treatments after considering the evidence. If funding is refused for a treatment that you and your doctor consider appropriate, the NHS should explain the decision.

NICE explains how access to recommended NHS care and treatment works.

What are your rights if you are unhappy with hospital care?

Patients have the right to complain about NHS care and have that complaint properly investigated. Complaining should not adversely affect your future treatment.

A complaint should be acknowledged within three working days. You have the right to discuss how it will be handled, be kept informed of progress and receive a written response explaining the outcome.

If you remain unhappy once the NHS complaints process has finished, you can take an unresolved complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, which provides an independent health service ombudsman route for NHS complaints in England. NHS England explains the process in its guidance on feedback and complaints about NHS services.

What patient right is most often breached?

There is no official national statistic showing that one legal patient right is breached more often than every other right.

Complaint data can show which issues patients raise most frequently, but a complaint is not the same as a proven breach of a legal right. The latest published NHS England figures cover 2024-25. They recorded 113,780 written complaints about hospital and community health services, with communications accounting for the largest individual subject area at 17.6 per cent.

This suggests that communication is a significant source of concern for patients, but it should not be interpreted as evidence that a particular legal right is the most commonly breached.

Do NHS patients have responsibilities as well as rights?

The NHS Constitution also describes patient responsibilities. Personal responsibility includes giving accurate health information, keeping or cancelling appointments, and discussing problems following an agreed treatment plan.

Patients should also treat NHS staff and other patients with respect and take part in important public health programmes, such as vaccination, where appropriate. This can make a significant contribution to good health in the wider community.

These responsibilities do not reduce your entitlement to appropriate care. Patient rights are not simply express and implied terms of a private contract, and personal responsibilities do not excuse negligent treatment or substandard care.

What happens if your patient rights are not respected?

The right response depends on what happened. A poor experience, a breach of an NHS standard and medical negligence are not necessarily the same thing.

You may choose to make a complaint if you want the hospital to investigate what happened, explain its decisions or consider changes to its service. The CQC may also need to know about concerns that indicate wider problems with safety or care standards.

A medical negligence claim has a different purpose. To bring a claim, it is generally necessary to show that the care provided by a doctor, surgeon, nurse or other healthcare professional fell below a reasonable standard and that this caused or contributed to avoidable physical or recognised psychological injury.

If you believe negligent treatment caused harm, our medical negligence claims process guide explains how we investigate the care and what evidence may be needed.