Improving health and care at scale: learning from the experience of systems

NHS England has set out plans for an improvement approach known as NHS IMPACT (Improving Patient Care Together). Its stated aim is for the NHS to become a learning and continuously improving system on a scale that no country has achieved before. In this report commissioned by the NHS Confederation, the Health Foundation and the Q community, Chris Ham illustrates the opportunities and challenges involved for systems.

The report reviews the experience of integrated care systems (ICSs) that are working with their partners in the NHS, local government and other sectors to become ​‘self-improving’ systems. These ICSs are building on the expertise that already exists in the NHS to put improvement at the heart of their operations. In so doing, they are working in neighbourhoods and places as well across the whole system, drawing on the experience of people and communities.