NICE launches QOF indicator consultation

A consultation on 20 potential new indicators for the 2013-14 Quality and Outcomes Framework has been launched.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence opened the public consultation on Monday and it will run until 6 February.

The list of 20 potential indicators has been developed following recommendations from QOF committee meetings.

Indicators have been or are currently being piloted in representative practices across the UK to test their feasibility and acceptability.

The list includes two proposed indicators on diabetes, including offering advice to male patients who have a record of erectile dysfunction.

There are also five potential indicators to improve care for people with rheumatoid arthritis and indicators for asthma, cancer and depression.

The healthcare guidance bodyinvited anyone with an interest in health to comment on the indicators via the NICE website.

Commenters are asked to consider issues including any unintended consequences of introducing individual indicators, or what factors might hinder their implementation.

The QOF advisory committee will consider results of the piloting and consultation feedback in June 2012 before recommending which of the potential indicators should be included in the NICE 2013-14 QOF menu.

NHS Employers and the General Practitioners Committee,on behalf of the British Medical Association, will then decide which indicators will be included within the 2013-14 QOF.

NICE Centre for Clinical Practice director Dr Fergus Macbeth said the consultation process meant anyone had an opportunity to contribute to the development of indicators for the 2013-14 framework.

“The final menu of indicators, to be published on the NICE website in August 2012, will support healthcare professionals to deliver good quality patient care, based on the best available evidence,” he said.