On Thursday 22 September, Thérèse Coffey, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, announced the government’s new health policy paper, Our plan for patients. Ms Coffey said that her priority as secretary of state would be acting for patients, and that she would act proactively, not prescriptively. She committed to a relentless focus on “ABCD”, with the plan setting out the government’s priorities for health and care in four key areas: ambulances, backlogs, social care, doctors and dentists. The plan is summarised in this briefing.