The founding principles of the NHS are safe, for the moment at least, from whatever marauding hordes we might have thought were out to get them. Last week’s BMJ and King’s Fund debate concluded overwhelmingly in favour of their continued relevance (doi: 10.1136/bmj.a628), and BMJ readers agreed (www.bmj.com/campaigns/nhsat60/index.dtl). Polls elsewhere in the run-up to the NHS’s 60th birthday this week have shown similar commitment to the ideals of equitable care funded by central taxation and free at the point of need. And now we have a draft NHS constitution that seeks to enshrine these principles in law (doi: 10.1136/bmj.a640). All of this means we can …