National Voices publishes its new five-year strategy

National Voices is proud and excited to share its strategy for 2024-2029. It was developed collaboratively with networks and key stakeholders in a variety of ways. In the process of this engagement, three proposed areas of focus, all interlinked, were identified: 

1. End unequal access

Over the last decade, NHS performance statistics have shown growing issues with access, with our members sharing how these challenges are not felt equally across different geographies and outcomes. 

By addressing the barriers experienced by those facing the worst outcomes, we will find solutions that improve care for all, allowing people to access high quality treatment and care, in a timely manner and in a way that works for them. 

2. Transfer power to people and communities

National Voices is a leader in co-production, bringing together people with lived experience with policy makers and clinical leaders on a regular basis to drive culture changes and ensure policies are reflective of real-life need and experience. 

Our strategy sets out how our approach can be used to democratise decision making in health and care, ensuring both patients and the public have their say. 

Ultimately, we will use this to demonstrate what a new power sharing model of care between clinicians and those who use the NHS would look like if it was spread through every level of the NHS and social care. 

3. Shift the measures of success

Currently the NHS is primarily judged on process measures and volumes of activity, such as the number of hip replacement surgeries as an example, with media and political narratives almost entirely focused on key performance indicators (KPIs) such as the size of the elective backlog.  

Current KPIs reflect only a very narrow part of the care pathway. Rather than assessing the outcomes and experiences of care, they do not account for the experiences of patients nor whether the services are providing care that meets people’s needs. 

Only by embedding patient experience in the way the NHS measures success, can the NHS shift its culture to one that puts patient needs at the centre of the care it delivers. We will seek to shift the culture by growing the use of our I Statements as a basis for understanding what matters most to people.

We are proud to launch our strategy for 2024-2029, which clearly sets out the trajectory of how we think our “broken NHS” can be repaired. The key is to refocus the system around patient needs and experiences, especially those facing the worst health inequalities.  

This will require a major cultural shift that puts more power in the hands of patients and communities.  And at its heart, the NHS will be judging its success not by how many appointments or operations it has delivered, but by the health outcomes it has helped people to achieve.  

Our strategy demonstrates our commitment to tackling the injustices that exist within health and care, and we are committed to collaborating with our partners across the system to drive change together. But where progress stalls and inequalities persist, we will not be afraid to speak out.

Jacob Lant, Chief Executive of National Voices

In his recent review, Lord Darzi concluded that ‘the patient voice is not loud enough.’ Here at National Voices, we exist to amplify the voices of people who use health and care services so that those who deliver those services understand what matters most to them – equitable access, decisions about services made with people who use these services and success measured by real improvements in experience.

We will ensure the patient voice is loud and clear – the onus now will be on decision-makers at every level in the health and care system to listen to that voice and act on what they hear.

Helen Buckingham, Chair of the Board of Trustees

Read our strategy

Our strategy is available to access in the following formats: