Figures showing the recorded prevalence of 20 conditions including asthma, hypertension, dementia, diabetes, and depression were yesterday published by NHS Digital.
The annual publication, Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) – Prevalence, Achievements and Personalised Care Adjustments Report, England 2020-21, also identifies how the recorded prevalence of these conditions has changed since the previous year.
The prevalence data is collected from GPs in England and can be broken down to regional and general practice level.
This dataset is made up of information voluntarily provided by 96.7 per cent of general practices in England. It is collected through the QOF, which is primarily used to improve care for patients by rewarding practices for the quality of care they provide2.
Conditions are grouped into categories. These are:
- Cardiovascular
- Respiratory
- Lifestyle
- High dependency and other long term conditions
- Mental health and neurology
- Musculoskeletal
- Fertility, obstetrics and gynaecology
- Quality improvement
- Non-diabetic hyperglycaemia
Prevalence of some conditions is measured as a proportion of the total number of people registered at a surgery, whereas others are age-specific.
QOF also provides information on the activity of GPs in relation to 26 indicator groups overall – this is expressed as achievement.
Achievement scores are used to calculate what payment a general practice should receive according to the services it delivered.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, income protection was applied to the majority of QOF indicators in 2020-21, therefore should be viewed with caution when comparing against previous years.
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