'Everyone counts: planning for patients 2014/15 to 2018/19' guidance

NHS England outlined their 5-year strategic plans for commissioners to work with providers and local government partners, in order to achieve sustainable, high quality-care for local communities. Everyone counts described NHS England's vision for integrated and convenient health and social care services, despite significant financial challenges.

NHS England outlined seven specific measurable outcomes, which it believed were critical indicators of success in the future:

• secure additional years of life for those with treatable mental and physical health conditions
• improve the health-related quality of life of the 15+ million people with long-term conditions, including mental health conditions
• reduce the amount of time people spend avoidably in hospital
• increase the proportion of older people living independently at home
• increase the number of positive hospital care experiences for those with mental and physical health conditions
• increase the number of positive care experiences outside of hospitals, in general practice and in the community for those with mental and physical health conditions
• make significant progress towards eliminating avoidable deaths in hospitals.

NHS England pledged to deliver transformational change within the health service, and suggested that the implementation of the Better Care Fund had the potential to enhance sustainability and increase quality within the NHS. NHS England identified six characteristics it would need to implement to achieve transformational change:

• citizen inclusion and empowerment
• increased access to wider primary care, including a broader range of services in patients' homes and communities, centred on general practices having a more pivotal role in co-ordinating and delivering care in collaboration with community services and clinicians
• a modern model of integrated care
• access to the highest quality urgent and emergency care
• a step-change in the productivity of elective care
• specialised services concentrated in centres of excellence.

NHS England suggested a number of approaches to improve patient safety and reduce avoidable harm, which included plans to create regional and area team quality surveillance groups and a patient safety collaborative programme.

NHS England also described their intended approach to NHS planning, in order to address the £30bn financial gap predicted by 2020/21. This included instructing commissioners to develop 5-year service transformation plans.