UHS strategy, vision and values
Introducing our strategy 2026-2030
At University Hospital Southampton, we are proud to provide outstanding care across the full spectrum of healthcare while leading pioneering research that helps shape the treatments of tomorrow. Every day, our 13,000 staff deliver compassionate, high-quality care to local communities and highly specialised services to more than four million people across the south of England and beyond.
Over the past five years, the NHS has experienced significant change and challenge. Despite increasing demand, growing health inequalities and the lasting impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, our people have continued to demonstrate exceptional resilience, innovation and dedication. Their commitment has enabled us to adapt, evolve and continue delivering excellent outcomes for the patients and communities we serve.
Guided by our values of Patients First, Working Together and Always Improving, we have achieved a great deal. During our previous strategy, we opened new wards, operating theatres and clinical facilities, reduced waiting times for patients, expanded our research activity and accelerated digital innovation. Today, we are proud to be recognised for excellent patient outcomes, with a number of our services regarded among the very best in the country. You can see some of our achievements in our strategy document.
Our success has always been built on the strength of our people and the power of collaboration. Few moments demonstrate this more clearly than the response to the West Wing fire in February 2026. The professionalism, teamwork and unwavering commitment shown by colleagues in safely evacuating patients reflected the very best of UHS and highlighted what can be achieved when we come together with a shared purpose.
As we look ahead, we are ambitious for the future. This strategy sets out how we will continue to transform care, harness new opportunities in science and technology, and support our workforce to thrive. It builds on our strong foundations while responding to the changing needs of patients, communities and the NHS.
Over the next five years, we will focus on delivering outstanding care, investing in our people, strengthening our foundations and advancing research and innovation. By working together and continuously improving, we will create a healthier future for our communities and ensure UHS remains at the forefront of healthcare, education and discovery.
Looking ahead
This strategy sets out our ambitions for the next five years, shaped by the views of our patients, communities and staff. It reflects national and regional NHS priorities while staying true to our values and commitment to continuous improvement. Working closely with our partners, we will ensure patients receive the right care, at the right time, in the right place, underpinned by financial sustainability and responsible use of resources.
Our strategy focuses on four key priorities:
- Outstanding Care – Transforming services through innovation, investment, pathway redesign and better use of data.
- Outstanding People – Supporting our workforce to thrive, excel and feel they belong.
- Foundations for the Future – Achieving financial sustainability through productivity, digital integration and estate development.
- Pioneering Research and Innovation – Strengthening our role as a leading teaching hospital, advancing pioneering research and world-first treatments.
Together, these priorities will drive improvement, promote equity and sustainability, and help us deliver exceptional care for the communities we serve.
Revised strategic framework
We have developed ambitions and targeted objectives under each of these themes for the next five years and we will use these objectives to track progress from departmental level all the way up to Trust Board. These themes all have linked strategies which form part of our strategic framework.
We have also set out four cross-cutting themes in our strategy which are reflected across our objectives. These are:
- Networks and collaboration – our commitment to working with external partners to deliver our services.
- Our continuous improvement approach – embedding an improvement methodology in everything that we do.
- Reducing health inequalities – improving equity in outcomes, experience and access across our organisation.
- Sustainability – adopting a sustainable approach in delivering care and managing our resources.
We believe that this framework will allow us to deliver measurable success for this strategy and also enable our staff to connect the work that they do every day with the achievement of our long-term goals.
Our values
Our values continue to shape who we are and how we work:
Patients First – everything we do is centred on patients, their families, and carers. Their needs, experiences, and outcomes guide all our decision-making to deliver patient-centred care.
Working Together – strong partnerships between our people, our patients, and carers enable us to deliver the best care, supported by collaboration across teams, organisations, and external partners.
Always Improving – we are committed to continuously improving our services through inclusive leadership, innovation, research, and more efficient care.
Embedding our strategy
Our strategy will only succeed if it lives beyond this document and is fully embedded from board to ward. We must ensure it is the true north that guides all our work, driving our operational efficiencies, improving the quality of our care, ensuring we are sustainable for the future and developing our workforce.
We must consistently thread our strategic goals through everything we do - ensuring that every role, every team and every decision is clearly connected to how we are transforming services and improving outcomes. Through our defined pillars and values, we will create a shared sense of purpose, helping colleagues understand how their daily work directly contributes to meaningful change. We will support this by aligning corporate objectives, team plans and individual goals, ensuring that improvement underpins how we work every day.
Measuring success will be central to sustaining momentum. We will track progress not only through operational and clinical outcomes, but through how we improve the experience of both our staff and the people in our care. Regular feedback, staff surveys, patient insight and real-time data will enable us to listen and learn.
Above all, we will celebrate success - recognising our people by highlighting how their contributions are making care safer, more effective and more compassionate every day. In doing so, we will make the change needed to deliver our strategy so that it is meaningful, visible and owned by everyone across our organisation.