NHS constitution values for values-based recruitment: a virtue ethics perspective.

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Ethics
• Moral Philosophy
• Recruitment Strategy

Background:

• The UK National Health Service (NHS) employs values-based recruitment to align staff and trainees with its constitutional values.
• There is a lack of clarity on whether existing moral philosophy literature informed the development of these NHS values.
• Healthcare professionals may uncritically accept established values, assuming they are newly created rather than historically rooted.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the NHS Constitution values using virtue ethics literature.
• To identify potential gaps and areas for improvement in the current NHS values framework.
• To enhance the effectiveness of values-based recruitment strategies within the NHS.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of selected virtue ethics writings, including historical literature and practical healthcare profession analysis.
• Comparative evaluation of virtue ethics concepts against the stated values within the NHS Constitution.
• Identification of ambiguities in current NHS value definitions and representation of key ethical concepts.

Main Results:

• Certain definitions within the NHS Constitution values are ambiguous.
• Key virtue ethics concepts, specifically 'integrity' and 'practical wisdom', are not adequately represented.
• The current framework may benefit from clearer definitions and the inclusion of these core ethical principles.

Conclusions:

• The NHS Constitution values can be strengthened by refining definitions and incorporating 'integrity' and 'practical wisdom'.
• Enhanced values provide a more robust foundation for values-based recruitment.
• International healthcare policymakers developing similar frameworks should consider virtue ethics literature reflectively.