QMAS underpays GPs £27.9m
GPs have been underpaid every year for the past six years and are owed a total of £27.9m because of a mistake in the Quality and Management Analysis System, it has emerged.
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QoF regime ‘needs robust audit’
Significant variations in the way the Quality and Outcomes Framework is managed mean patients and taxpayers may be losing out, the Audit Commission has found.
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Call for local QoF frameworks
Failure to set up local versions of the Quality and Outcomes Framework could lead to missed opportunities to improve quality and tackle local health priorities.
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DH to stay with new public health arm
Health secretary Andrew Lansley has quietly dropped his pre-election pledge to rename the Department of Health the Department of Public Health.
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QoF performance drops slightly
GP practices in England saw their performance on the Quality and Outcomes Framework fall slightly over the past 12 months, with the average practice earning almost 2% fewer points than in the previous year. Figures for QoF performance in 2009-10, published by the Information Centre this week, reveal that on average practices achieved 93.7% of […]
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Eleven QoF indicators up for retirement
Eleven indicators are likely to be retired from the Quality and Outcomes Framework next year if recommendations from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence are implemented. NICE’s QoF Advisory Committee has identified four indicators for retirement in addition to seven indicators due for retirement before change was postponed because of the swine flu […]
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GP consortia to start work this year
The Department of Health has spelled out its plans for the future of commissioning in a consultation that gives the NHS Commissioning Board a role in setting data and IT standards while predicting that a market will develop in commissioning support.
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Payments linked to clinical quality
Removing financial incentives for clinical quality can lead to a drop in performance, a study has found.
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GPs’ future should include IT incentives
GP practices should be offered financial incentives to support data quality and to move to paperless practices, according to GP representatives. The BMA’s General Practitioner Committee has published a 50 point plan for the future of general practice in the UK, which includes recommendations on a series of areas including IT, the Quality and Outcomes […]
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King’s Fund warns on quality measures
Greater use of quality indicators in the NHS could be a powerful tool to improve care, but could also lead to misinterpretation and confusion, the King’s Fund has warned. The health policy think-tank is calling on the NHS to make sure it is clear about the aims of different measures and the audiences at which they […]
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