Northern Ireland Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) Information 2017/18

Date published: 26 October 2018

This is the fourteenth year of operation of the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF), which is a system to remunerate general practices for providing good quality care to their patients, and to help fund work to further improve the quality of health care delivered. It is a fundamental part of the General Medical Services (GMS) Contract, which was introduced on 1st April 2004.

The QOF measures achievement against a range of evidence-based indicators, with points and payments awarded according to the level of achievement. The framework has four main components:

• Clinical Indicators
• Public Health Indicators (including additional services)
• Patient Experience
• Records & Systems Indicators

Key Points

• The average achievement in Northern Ireland was 538.6 of the 547 points available (98.5%). Achievement across LCGs has been historically very similar, with levels in 2017/18 ranging from 98.0% in Southern LCG to 98.9% in Western LCG. (Levels showed greater variation in 2016/17, due to a QOF holiday in operation that year).
• Of the clinical registers collected for QOF that measure disease prevalence, prevalence was highest for hypertension (13.62%) and lowest for Osteoporosis (0.29%).
• The average points achieved in the main domains were 373.9 points (98.4%) for Clinical, 33.4 points (95.5%) for Public Health, 13.6 points (97.1%) for Public Health - Additional Services, 17.9 points (99.7%) for Patient Experience and 99.7 (99.7%) for Records & Systems.
• Achievement in the clinical areas ranged from 95.9% in Osteoporosis to 100% in Atrial Fibrillation. There were no new clinical areas introduced in 2017/18.