Glossary, metric metadata, and framework documentation
The NHS Oversight Framework (NOF) is the structured approach NHS England uses to assess the performance of NHS providers. Its purpose is to ensure public accountability for performance and provide a foundation for how NHS England works with systems and providers to support improvement.
The framework measures organisational delivery across five scored domains - access to services, effectiveness and experience of care, patient safety, people and workforce, and finance and productivity - and places providers into segments (1–4) indicating their level of performance and the degree of support they receive from NHS England.
This interactive dashboard allows you to see how NHS England has assessed each provider under the NOF 2025/26. It provides a view of how acute providers are performing compared to one another, including the overall segment of each provider, which indicates the breadth of challenges it faces.
The dashboard covers three provider groups, each assessed using metrics tailored to their services. Use the provider type selector to switch between them:
Segmentation data is reviewed quarterly, and segments may be updated at any time in response to emerging performance, finance, or quality concerns. The framework operates alongside CQC inspections and other regulatory mechanisms to provide a rounded view of each organisation's position.
A key policy priority for 2025/26 is achieving financial balance across the NHS. The framework reflects this through a financial override: providers in deficit or receiving deficit support are capped at segment 3, regardless of their metric performance. This ensures financial sustainability is treated as a prerequisite for the higher-performing segments.
The dashboard is organised into several tabs, each offering a different way to explore provider performance:
| Domain | Sub-domains |
|---|---|
| Access to services | Elective care, Cancer care, Mental health care, Urgent and emergency care |
| Effectiveness and experience of care | Effective flow and discharge, Effective out of hospital care, Patient experience |
| Finance and productivity | Finance, Productivity |
| Patient safety | Patient safety |
| People and workforce | Retention and culture |
Full details of the metrics within each sub-domain can be found in Annex A of the NHS Oversight Framework 2025/26
For queries regarding policy: england.nhs.oversightandassessment@nhs.net
For queries regarding the dashboard: Feedback form
Page last reviewed: December 2025