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Government reveals details of new outcomes framework

By Gareth Iacobucci

The Government will assess GPs by the health outcomes they achieve with the creation of a national framework which will hold providers to account for a raft of new targets, including cutting mortality amenable to healthcare and premature deaths from heart and lung disease.

The White Paper reveals that funding made available to the new independent NHS board will be based on the new NHS Outcomes Framework, first announced by the health secretary at the recent BMA annual conference in Brighton.

The framework will in turn be translated into a commissioning outcomes framework for GP consortia, that will create ‘powerful incentives for effective commissioning'.

GPs will be measured by the effectiveness of the treatment and care they provide – measured by both clinical outcomes and patient-reported outcomes; the ‘safety of treatment and care provided' and ‘the broader experience patients have of the treatment and care they receive'.

The NHS Commissioning Board is expected to develop the framework into a more comprehensive set of indicators, reflecting NICE quality standards, with NICE expected to produce 150 quality standards by July 2015.

The Government said it would shortly publish more detailed documents seeking views on the establishment of the outcomes framework.

As Pulse recently reported, GPs will be assessed against new outcomes measures, detailed below.

New outcomes measures

- Mortality rates affected by the NHS brought down to the level of comparable countries
- Improving one and five year survival rates for cancer at least in line with EU averages
- Reducing premature mortality from stroke, heart disease and lung disease, so that they are at least in line with EU averages
- Year-on-year improvement in patient-reported outcomes for patients living with long-term conditions
- Year-on-year improvement in patients' satisfaction with their access to and experiences of healthcare
- Year-on-year reduction in the number of adverse events

Your questions on the White Paper

Got a question about the health White Paper or GPs' new commissioning role?

Primary care tsar Dr David Colin-Thome has agreed to directly answer your questions and queries exclusively for Pulse. Let us know what you want to ask at feedback@pulsetoday.co.uk and we'll put your questions to him.