200 practices get max QoF

Twice as many GP practices achieved maximum Quality and Outcomes Framework points this year in comparison with last year.

The Health and Social Care Information Centre has for the first time published full data about the GP reward and incentive programme covering more than 8,000 practices in England.

The achievement and exceptions data report gives a full picture of QoF activity, which previously was published in individual reports in different weeks.

The new report shows that in 2011-12, 2.4% of practices (192 out of 8,123) achieved the maximum 1,000 points available, compared to 1.3% (105 out of 8,245) in 2010-11.

On average, practices achieved 96.9% of the points available, compared to 94.7% in the previous year.

About 500 practices achieved less than 90% of available points down from 800 the previous year.

High blood pressure had the highest overall prevalence at 13.6% of patients on registers.

For age-specific registers, depression was the most prevalent among patients aged 18 and over, affecting about one in ten registered patients of this age - or 5.1m patients compared to 4.9m last year.

HSCIC chief executive Tim Straughan said the new data offers "a fuller view of practice activity in relation to the QOF – where achievement and exception reporting can be viewed side by side - than in previous years.”