NHS England has published a Quality Strategy for NHS-funded care in England that places quality at the centre of planning for the next ten years.
The document, released on behalf of the National Quality Board, sets out three interdependent domains. Safety requires reducing the risk of unintended harm. Effectiveness demands evidence-based care that delivers outcomes that matter to patients. Experience means co-ordinated, compassionate treatment delivered by skilled and supported staff.
These definitions are not new. Yet the strategy consolidates existing commitments into a single national framework with measurable targets. It builds directly on the 10 Year Health Plan for England, which called for greater transparency, stronger patient and staff voice, clearer accountabilities and a sustained effort to tackle healthcare inequalities.
The National Quality Board will introduce an initial set of quality metrics to review and oversee progress across the three domains. An accompanying technical annex supplies the latest data on trends, variation and inequalities for each metric. This baseline allows systematic tracking rather than rhetorical ambition.
NHS England will support system quality groups throughout 2026/27 to increase their effectiveness and maturity. The Medium Term Planning Framework now requires board-level reporting of research activity, and a specific metric on this will appear in the NHS Oversight Framework for 2026/27. These steps translate high-level intent into institutional routine.
The strategy continues the implementation of the NHS Patient Safety Strategy across all settings and includes explicit plans to strengthen safety in primary care. It responds to earlier reviews, including Dr Penny Dash’s patient safety work, by emphasising sustained improvement in maternity and neonatal services and the Core20PLUS5 approach to inequalities.
