NICE asks what to take for a COF

A consultation on potential indicators for the 2013-14 Commissioning Outcomes Framework has been launched.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence says the framework will be used to measure the health outcomes and quality of care commissioned by clinical commissioning groups.

The COF will also provide information on quality to patients and the public and enable clinical commissioning groups to benchmark their performance and identify priorities for improvement.

The 120 proposed indicators cover a broad range of topics, including mental health, cancer and asthma.

They have been developed from three different sources; indicators derived directly from the NHS Outcomes Framework, indicators developed by NICE based on NICE Quality Standards, and indicators from other sources to support the outcomes in the NHS Outcomes Framework.

Following the public consultation, the indicators will be further refined and tested in conjunction with the NHS Information Centre.

The results will be presented to the NICE COF advisory committee in May 2012.

This body will recommend a set of indicators for consideration by the NHS Commissioning Board, which is responsible for deciding the final set of indicators in the Autumn.

The public consultation runs until 29 February. The full list of 120 potential new indicators is available on the NICE website.