National quality strategy facing ‘ministerial pushback’

Serious concerns have been raised that the delayed NHS “quality strategy” does not “prioritise patient safety”, HSJ has discovered.

The government’s 2025 10-Year Health Plan  stated “we will revitalise the National Quality Board (NQB) and task it with developing a new quality strategy”. The plan said the strategy would be published by March 2026, but this goal was missed, as was a second scheduled publication date soon after the May local elections. 

Minutes from the meeting obtained by HSJ reveal that NQB members “raised concerns” about the strategy’s lack of focus on patient safety and mental health. They also expressed a desire for the strategy to set “clearer expectations for providers”.

Read full article (paywalled).

Source: Health Service Journal, 23 June 2026

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In this blog, Patient Safety Learning and the Advancing Quality Alliance (Aqua) set out the need for safety to serve as a golden thread woven throughout the Strategy.