What this looks like in practice

• Identify or create an improvement methodology to use across your entire organisation, ensuring a local and systemic way of practising improvement.
• Give all people access to improvement training and support, so that everyone can run improvement projects and continuously improve their daily work.
• Determine how success will be measured at an early stage, use appropriate tools and frameworks, and include feedback from people working at the point of care and people with lived experience.
• Demonstrate the impact of co-producing quality improvements with people who use services as an integral part of daily work.
• Set an expectation that there is an organisational focus on data and all staff are empowered to make and track changes in their workplace.
• Create and embed a training strategy to increase improvement capability.
• Leaders attend teams daily huddle boards and work to unblock issues which teams are facing.

Guidance and resources

Assessment and improvement

Visit our improvement pages to understand where you are on your journey to embed each of the five components of NHS IMPACT and to begin building an improvement culture.

In particular, learn more about how to build capacity and capability for improvement.

Courses, workshops and events

• The Advocating and Educating for Quality Improvement (A-EQUIP) model – e-learning for health hub – This course describes the Advocating and Educating for Quality Improvement (A-EQUIP) model of professional nursing and midwifery leadership and clinical supervision.
• Quality Improvement 101: Introduction to Health Care Improvement – This course launches you on your journey to becoming a health care change agent.
• Training and Events – Improvement Academy – Improvement Academy training courses, both virtual and online, focus on helping health and care staff to improve the safety and quality of care in everyday practice.
• Learning and Improving Across Systems Peer Learning Programme – NHS Confederation – Connect with leaders across the UK navigating the opportunities and complexity of leading change through health and care systems.

Free tools and guides

• Quality improvement resources – East London NHS Foundation Trust – Useful tools and resources for quality improvement.
• Resources –  King’s Improvement Science – King’s Improvement Science resources for quality improvement projects, implementation science research, patient and public involvement and evaluation.
• NHS England – Making data count – These practical guides are suitable for those working at all levels in the NHS, from ward to board, and will show you how to make better use of your data
• Huddle sheets and supporting guidance – NHS England – The huddles sheets aim to encourage open reflection to further embed learning from patient safety incidents. They expand upon existing safety standards and toolkits, facilitating systematic evaluation of the impact of patient safety events on clinical sessions/days and team members, identifying any potential additional support and training required.

Journal articles, reports and research

• Research Outputs Archive – The Healthcare Improvement Studies (THIS) Institute – Browse an expanding evidence base for the NHS about how to improve quality and safety in healthcare.

NHS IMPACT bulletin

Subscribe to the NHS IMPACT (Improving Patient Care Together) bulletin