- More than 2,000 Priory colleagues, patients, residents and families contributed to 2026 to 2030 strategy
- The Priory Plan builds on the success of past three years which delivered high quality, safety and satisfaction ratings – significantly above national averages
- Aims to further support people to “Life Your Life” as the provider of choice through the whole care journey
Priory, the largest independent provider of mental health, addiction and working age adult social care services in the UK, has launched a new four-year plan following one of its most comprehensive engagement exercises.
More than 2,000 residents, patients, families, colleagues and Lived Experience Partners took part in a listening campaign designed to help shape the organisation’s strategy up to 2030.
It builds on the success of the previous Priory Plan (2023-25), which delivered high levels of quality and safety ratings across all services – with more people than ever moving from high acuity to less restrictive environments.
Across adult care services, 88% are rated ‘Good’ or better, which is 13.6 percentage points above the national average while, in healthcare, 86% of Priory services are rated ‘Good’ or better, which is 19.1 percentage points above the national average for equivalent services, including NHS providers - with no ‘inadequate’ ratings in either adult care or healthcare.
Priory has also further strengthened its focus on measurable outcomes over the past year, with 86% of acute patients and 89% of residents in specialist services reporting improved mental wellbeing, alongside 94% family satisfaction.
During the consultation phase, colleagues ranked their priorities clearly – which were echoed by patients and residents: quality of care, colleague wellbeing and development, innovation and technology, equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), and sustainability and environment.
The Priory Plan 2026-30 comprises of six strategic goals which remain the same, with two previous goals merged into around outcomes and performance:
- cover the whole care journey from acute to less intensive support
- be the provider of choice in health and social care achieving excellent outcomes
- provide outstanding career development opportunities for colleagues
- embed a culture of openness, inclusion and trust
- be at the forefront of digital innovation
- focus on sustainable funding and growth
As part of the development of the plan, the organisation agreed a new vision -
‘Great outcomes for every person, delivered with compassion and innovation’ – and mission, ‘We support people to regain their quality of life and independence through compassionate, effective care based on evidence and data. Priory’s purpose remains ‘Live your life’.
Rebekah Cresswell, Priory Chief Executive Officer, said: “This plan outlines our ambitions through to 2030, building on the strong foundations laid by our previous strategy. It is our vision and roadmap for the next stage of Priory’s evolution and I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has contributed to its development.
“Central to everything we do is our purpose - ‘Live your Life’ - supporting people to live as fully and independently as they can. This means focusing on what matters to each individual, their goals and aspirations, and creating an environment that supports their wellbeing and rehabilitation.
“It also ensures we involve the people we support, and their loved ones, in decisions about how they live and receive care, so that some of the most vulnerable people in the UK can live and achieve in a way they might not have thought possible previously.”
The Priory Plan aligns closely with the NHS 10-Year Health Plan, which sets out a vision for a more integrated, sustainable and patient-focused health service, emphasising a shift from hospital to community care, from analogue to digital, and from treating sickness to preventing it.
Priory is unique by the scale of its network – 270 sites across the four UK nations – and its ability to deliver integrated health and social care pathways across the whole patient journey, from hospital to community.
Cresswell said: “The new Priory Plan prioritises integrated and community-based pathways, outcome-led and personalised services supported by data, and improved colleague wellbeing and retention – alongside co-production and partnership working with patients and communities.
“As a provider that supports the full patient journey – from the least to the most intensive interventions, across hospitals and communities UK-wide – Priory is well placed to help deliver the commitments of the NHS 10-Year Health Plan.
“We will continue working closely with our commissioners and funders to meet local need. This is an exciting moment for health and social care, offering a real opportunity to transform the system together, as partners bringing distinct expertise and experience.”
Read the full Priory Plan 2026-30 here.
Building on strong foundations - notable successes from the previous Priory Plan:
- Quality and safety: 88% of our sites are now rated as ‘good’ or ‘better’ by our regulators with none of our sites rated as ‘inadequate’
- Record colleague engagement: we received our highest ever score of 78% in our 2025 colleague engagement survey – up 20 percentage points from 2021, with 80% of colleagues saying they are proud to work for Priory
- Outstanding outcomes for the people we support: 86% of our acute patients and 89% of our residents in specialist services have reported improved mental wellbeing, with family satisfaction reaching 94%, and more people than ever moving from high acuity to less restrictive environments
- More time back to care due to digital platforms: 200,000+ hours of colleague time has been saved thanks to the introduction of innovative digital systems such as Nourish in our adult social care services, and e-prescribing solutions within our healthcare services
- Experts By Lived Experience: we established an effective approach to lived experience partnership working to promote lasting and meaningful participation, engagement and coproduction at all levels of Priory with people who have lived experience of our services. We currently have 28 Lived Experience Partners working with us
- Freedom to Speak up: to promote transparency, inclusivity and a positive culture, we set up a network of over 140 Freedom to Speak Up champions to empower our colleagues to raise concerns when anything in the workplace is undermining the delivery of care or impacting their own wellbeing at work
- Investment: Since 2023, we have invested £31m in new buildings and facilities and on refitting and repurposing parts of our sites for the benefit of our patients and residents. This includes £4.5 million in 2024 to build a 12-bed unit for acute mental health patients in Lancashire
- A greener Priory: we have launched our carbon reduction plan successfully and installed photovoltaic (solar panels) on 34 of our buildings – converting sunlight into electricity.