Health care has, in many ways, always been a form of ‘learning system’. Driven by a diverse community of stakeholders, including health care professionals, patients and the public, a learning health system (LHS) uses internal and external knowledge to continually learn about and improve patient care. However, while LHS's have huge potential to support service transformation and population health, there is a lack of consensus about what an LHS actually is, and how to get started.

This research report helps people understand LHSs and how they can be developed. It also identifies a range of opportunities and actions that can be taken by policy-makers and system leaders to advance the LHS agenda across the United Kingdom.