The quality narrative in health care

Whether a patient receives cutting-edge cancer treatment in a state-of-the-art facility, an electronic mental health intervention in primary care, or basic fluid resuscitation after trauma in a resource-limited setting, high-quality and evidence-based health care should be the expectation, as well as the reality, for patients at the point of need. For more than a decade this ideal has been championed in one form or another and has been realised, in numerous instances, through notable transformative reform. However, the health-care landscape in the UK today is clouded by political obfuscation, and overzealous regulation is a real threat to innovation and quality improvement. Faced with growing fiscal scrutiny of the National Health Service (NHS) and the rising demands of an older population with chronic diseases, the issues which impede quality improvement in health care need to be addressed. Optimising the health-care market, clarifying the political narrative of reform, and recognising the white elephant of regulation, which serves only to distract from transformative improvement, are key steps in driving quality in the NHS and further afield.