First GP performance figures released

Patients in England will be able to check how well their local GP’s surgery is performing with new figures published on Wednesday.

Patients will be able to check surgeries to see how they score on a variety of areas, including appointment times and the treatment of long-term diseases.

The voluntary Quality and Outcomes framework awards participating surgeries points for performance in 153 different areas, including clinical care, organisation of surgeries, patient experience and provision of additional services, such as immunisations.

The new framework replaces the previous GP payment scheme, which paid surgeries according to the number of patients on its books. Under the new scheme GP’s payments will be calculated on the number of points awarded.

Surgeries can gain a maximum of 1,050 points under the new scheme.

The newly published figures showed that the 8,446 practices, which participated in the scheme, achieved 91% of the available points – an average of 959 points - which exceeded expectations.

Commenting on the figures, Health Minister Lord Warner said: "The high scores show that the new GP contract we put in place last year is proving successful in giving practices a real incentive to improve the quality of care for NHS patients and to provide a wide range of services locally."

Dr Michael Dixon, NHS Alliance chairman, welcomed the figures. He said: "It was not primary care trusts who under-estimated the quality that GPs deliver. We should all be proud of what GPs and primary care have achieved. General practice in this country is the envy of the world and we should celebrate it."

The NHS Confederation described the results as a "significant achievement".

Dr Gill Morgan, NHS Confederation chief executive, said: "This report which gives us, for the first time, comprehensive data about the prevalence and treatment of common conditions including asthma and diabetes.

"As it is based on the best scientific evidence about what makes a difference to patient outcomes, it offers a win-win for doctors and patients as the health of the public will improve as GPs increase the points they achieve.

However, Dr Morgan warned that many primary care trusts will face financial challenges due to the unexpectedly high scores. It is estimated that the scheme will not cost around £200 million more than originally planned.

Dr Morgan said: "GPs have exceeded expectations during the first year of the QOF, earning many more points than was originally estimated which is good news for patients. It shows the very high quality of GP services in the UK and how hard practices have worked to improve quality.

"Many PCTs will however face short-term financial challenges because they will be paying more money than expected to GPs who have achieved more points than expected. But, in the medium to long term, the improvements in health will reduce NHS costs as health problems are identified earlier and managed effectively."

(KMcA/SP)