|
|
NHS employers and the General Practitioners Committee (GPC) have agreed changes to the QOF for 2009/10. The changes will reward practices for delivering a range of new services for patients.
What is the background to this?
The reallocation of QOF points are part of the package of changes being made to the General Medical Services contract for 2009/10. The QOF aims to deliver rewards for high-quality care and sets out a range of national standards based on the best available research evidence. The standards are divided into four domains; clinical, organisational, additional services, and patient experience. A set of indicators consisting of a disease category and an indicator number has been developed for each domain to describe different aspects of performance. QOF points are awarded for depth of quality in particular areas and breadth of achievement across the framework.
Summary
In 2009/10 there will be 72 QOF points reallocated to five clinical areas. The new indicators and their points are:
- A new indicator for the assessment of newly diagnosed depression (20 points)
- Primary prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in people with newly diagnosed hypertension (13 points)
- Improvements to the indicators for chronic kidney disease (11 points), diabetes (7 points) and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) (2 points) – totalling 20 points
- Improvements in advice and information on contraceptive methods (10 points)
- Improved prescribing for people with heart failure (9 points)
So what?
In order to accommodate the reallocation of QOF points as indicated above, the following points will be removed:
| Indicator | Points removed |
| Patient Experience (PE) 2 | 25 |
| Patient Experience (PE) 6 | 30 |
| Smoking 3 | 3 |
| Smoking 4 | 5 |
| Hypertension (BP) 4 | 2 |
| Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) 6 | 2 |
| Atrial Fibrillation (AF) 3 | 3 |
| Contraceptive services (CON) 1 | 1 |
| Contraceptive services (CON) 2 | 1 |
| Total | 72 |
All of the new indicators will be reviewed prior to the start of 2011/12 in light of the changing priorities for health and healthcare.
Action
General practices and primary care organisations should be aware of changes to the QOF points for 2009/10, paying particular attention to medicines management initiatives that could impact on the indicators. For example, a clinical medication review (Type 3) could be used to identify patients with heart failure who should be receiving medicines as outlined in indicator HF4. For details of the QOF changes and new indicators click on the link.
Item details
- General Medical Services Contract http://www.nhsemployers.org/pay-conditions/primary-886.cfm. Accessed via the NHS Employers website on 20/10/08.
Feedback
Please comment on this blog in the NPC discussion rooms, or using our feedback form.