What does high-quality NHS care look and feel like – and how can a national strategy translate into a better experience for patients?

In this episode of Leading Improvement in Health and Care, Penny Pereira speaks with Professor Frankie Swords, National Medical Director for NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care, and Sarah Barley-McMullen, strategic lived experience partner for NHS England and Chair of Long Covid SOS.

They explore why quality must become the NHS’s guiding principle, encompassing safe and clinically effective care as well as a positive patient experience. The conversation considers the role of leadership and organisational culture, the use of meaningful data and shared metrics, reducing unwarranted variation, and making it easier for people throughout the health and care system to do the right thing.

Sarah brings a vital lived-experience perspective, arguing that quality cannot be understood through performance data alone. It can be felt in whether care is joined up, whether patients are heard and involved in decisions, and whether their experience gives them the confidence to seek help and remain engaged in their care.

Hosted by Penny Pereira, managing director of Q, each episode aims to spotlight where improvement is working well, as well as the challenges it faces. This podcast is part of Learning and Improving Across Systems, a partnership between the Health Foundation, the NHS Alliance and the Q community to support health and care systems to learn and improve.

Additional resources

• Recommendations for local leaders onembedding QMS
• Embedding and sustaining Quality Management Systems | Q Community
• Managing quality during change | Q Community
• QMS webinar series - is this still relevant?
• Quality Management Systems: resources to help you get… | Q Community

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What does it really take to make change work in the NHS?

In this episode of Leading Improvement in Health and Care, we explore the Scottish Approach to Change—a system-wide effort to rethink how transformation actually happens across health and social care.

Rather than another top-down initiative, Scotland is bringing together quality improvement, service design, strategy, and frontline experience into one unified approach—with a shared language and a clearer pathway for change.

We are joined by Clare Morrison, Director of Engagement and Change at Healthcare Improvement Scotland, who led the development of the Scottish approach to change, as well as two leaders from the Pathfinder sites who have already started embedding it in their organisations. So Gareth Marr, Chief Officer Dumfries and Galloway Health and Social Care Partnership, and Jennifer Champion, Director of Public Health at NHS Forth.

Hosted by Penny Pereira, managing director of Q, and former NHS Confederation chief executive, Matthew Taylor, each episode aims to spotlight where improvement is working well, as well as the challenges it faces. This podcast is part of Learning and Improving Across Systems, a partnership between the Health Foundation, NHS Confederation and the Q community to support health and care systems to learn and improve.

Additional resources

• The Scottish Approach to Change - Scottish Approach to Change – Healthcare Improvement Scotland
• Q’s An effective approach to change - An effective approach to change | Q Community
• Scotland’s Health and Social Care Service Renewal Framework - Health and Social Care Service Renewal Framework - gov.scot
• Quality Management System - Quality Management System (QMS) – Healthcare Improvement Scotland
• Q’s Quality Management Systems: resources to help you get started - Quality Management Systems: resources to help you get… | Q Community

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Leaders set the tone for improvement, but what does that actually look like in practice?

In this episode of Leading Improvement in Health and Care, highlights from NHS Impact 2026 explore how leadership can move improvement beyond isolated projects and into whole health and care systems. From system thinking and co-production to visible leadership, standard work and the shift from problem-solving to problem-framing, speakers share what it takes to lead change that lasts.

• Adam Sewell-Jones, chief executive officer, East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust
• Nicola Burgess, Professor of Operations Management, University of York
• Andy Hardy, Chief Executive, University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust

And for the last session of the day, Penny Pereira, our podcast host, hosted a panel discussion exploring how improvement can move beyond individual projects and begin to reshape whole pathways of care with staff and populations. Joining her was:

• Caroline Clarke, NHS London Regional Director
• David Fillingham, a Chair in the NHS and Chair of the National Improvement Board
• Rich Amos, Patient Partner with NHS England

This podcast is part of Learning and Improving Across Systems, a partnership between the Health Foundation, NHS Confederation and the Q community to support health and care systems to learn and improve.

Useful resources

• National Improvement Conference 2026 - resources | NHS Confederation
• Boost | Our Learning and Improvement Community
• NHS England » NHS IMPACT
• Leading Healthcare Transformation| Virginia Mason Institute UK
• Microsoft PowerPoint - DBA Conference Presentation K Maitra.pptx
• UHCW-Leaders infographic.pdf
• Point of Care Foundation
• NHS England » National Improvement Board

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.