Anyone with an interest in health, including health professionals, patients, community groups and voluntary organisations, is encouraged to take part. Comments are welcomed via the NICE website (www.nice.org.uk) and stakeholders are asked to consider issues such as unintended consequences of introducing individual indicators, or any factors that might affect their implementation.

The proposed QOF indicators cover a range of health priorities. These include carrying out cardiovascular disease risk assessments with all people who have a severe mental illness and better access to psychological therapies for people with a diagnosis of anxiety or depression. There are also potential indicators that focus on people who live in care homes or who are housebound.

The proposed CCG OIS indicators have been developed using NICE Quality Standards.

The health and wellbeing of children and young people is a key area focused on with proposed indicators for children and young people with depression, conduct disorders and autism. There are also indicators for the treatment of obesity and support for women and couples with fertility problems.

The new list has been developed following recommendations from the NICE QOF and CCG OIS Advisory committees.

The indicators which are part of this consultation are not the final indicators; the new Indicator Advisory Committee will consider results of the piloting / testing and consultation feedback in June 2015 before recommending which of these potential indicators should be included in the NICE QOF and CCG OIS menus which will be published in August 2015.

For the QOF, a process of negotiation between the four UK health departments,  and general practitioners’ representatives will then ultimately decide which indicators will be included within the 2016/17 QOF. For the CCG OIS, NHS England will work with key stakeholders to agree the final indicators to be added to the 2016/17 CCG OIS.

Professor Gillian Leng, Health and Social Care Director at NICE, said: “This consultation on potential new indicators is an integral part of NICE’s process for QOF and CCG OIS. It provides the opportunity for everyone with an interest to contribute to the development of the 2016/17 indicators. We value this input highly and all feedback will help the new Indicator Advisory Committee decide which indicators will be put forward for publication on the NICE menu for the QOF and CCG OIS.

“The final menu of indicators, expected to be published on the NICE website in August 2015, will support healthcare professionals to improve the quality of patient care, based on the best available evidence.”

Ends 

Notes to editors

About the joint indicators consultation

The joint indicators consultation is available to view at: - http://www.nice.org.uk/About/What-we-do/our-programmes/Standards-and-Indicators/consultation-on-nice-indicators from Monday 26 January to Monday 23 February 2015.

About QOF

1. Introduced in 2004, the      Quality and Outcomes framework (QOF) is an annual incentive scheme that rewards GP practices in the UK for implementing systematic improvements in quality of care for patients. The QOF operates through a points system which rewards GPs for their performance in relation to groups of indicators.
2. NICE took over the arrangements for managing the new process of developing indicators and reviewing the existing indicators in April 2009. It established a new independent Quality and Outcomes Framework Indicator Advisory Committee responsible for reviewing existing QOF indicators and      recommending new ones before producing a national “menu” of approved indicators which will be made available through the NICE website.
3. Topics prioritized for the 2016/17 Quality and Outcomes Framework by the committee for indicator development were put through a formal indicator development process by the NICE Collaborating Centre for Indicator  Development. This process has two elements: piloting in representative practices across England and in a smaller number of practices in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and secondly public consultation.
4. Both the results of piloting and consultation comments will be reviewed by the new indicator advisory committee in June 2015 which will then recommend which indicators should be approved for publication by NICE in its annual “menu” of indicators.
5. NICE will publish a proposed list of indicators for 2016/17 QOF, together with recommendations on indicators to be considered for retirement in summer 2015. A process of negotiation between the four UK health departments,  and general practitioners representatives will then ultimately decide which indicators will be included within the 2016/17 QOF. The final QOF indicators for England will be published by NHS Employers.