Quality Outcomes Framework
The QOF is a voluntary reward and incentive programme for all GP practices in England, detailing achievement in three domains. Each domain consists of a set of achievement measures, known as indicators, against which practices score points according to their level of achievement.
The 2015/16 QOF measured achievement against 77 indicators; practices score points on the basis of achievement against each indicator, up to a maximum of 559 points (each indicator is worth multiple points).
Each point has a value of £160.15 and the final payment is adjusted to take account of practice workload, local demographics and prevalence of chronic conditions in the local area.
Domains
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Clinical: the domain consists of 65 indicators across 19 clinical areas (e.g. chronic kidney disease, heart failure, hypertension) worth up to a maximum of 435 points.
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Public health − additional services: the domain consists of five indicators (worth up to 27 points) across two service areas − cervical screening and contraception.
QOF points are allocated based on the underlying achievement of a practice (which is net of exceptions). This means that some practices with a lower percentage of patients receiving an intervention may receive more QOF points based on the number of exceptions included.
Exceptions relate to registered patients who are on the relevant disease register or in the target population group and would ordinarily be included in the indicator denominator, but who are excluded by the contractor on the basis of specific criteria.
The QOF reflects just a part of the work that a general practice is responsible for; it measures only those conditions specified by NICE in the 2015−16 GMS contract. As such, the QOF should not be used to rank practices into league tables of overall performance.
The 2015/16 QOF indicators have been collated for each CCG and can be found by clicking on the links below:
- NHS Coastal West Sussex CCG – QOF 2015/16
- NHS Crawley CCG – QOF 2015/16
- NHS Horsham and Mid Sussex CCG – QOF 2015/16
For further details and data for all GP practices, visit NHS Digital.
Note
We apologise for the dead links on this page. This content is a work in progress and will be updated shortly.