Results prove surgeries are in good health (From Warrington Guardian)

Results prove surgeries are in good health

DOCTORS' surgeries in central Cheshire have excelled in beating Government targets introduced just a year ago.

Data released on a new website on Wednesday shows how each practice and primary care trust has scored against targets in a GP contract, which provides financial rewards for good performance.

Points were awarded for more than 153 separate targets in the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF), from management of disease, patient care and general organisation.

The website shows that Central Cheshire PCT achieved 93.8 per cent of the total points available for each separate target, compared to the 91.3 per cent England average.

Julia Burgess, QOF leader for the PCT, said: "We've done very well all over.

"It's a new thing which started last year as part of the General Medical Services contract and will be yearly.

"Surgeries will be financially rewarded for the work and care that they actually give rather than the number of patients on the list.

"It marks a shift recognising that the whole practice is delivering care and is a tremendous incentive."

She added: "All our practices have achieved highly in terms of the number of points - it's based on the sort of things practices were doing anyway but this just formalises it and gives it a structure.

"If practices score highly, we are happy and the patients are happy."

The QOF year runs from April to April so practices are already feeling the benefits from their financial rewards, which Julia said have generally been ploughed into providing extra staff and resources in practices.

To find out more about the results visit the website at www.ic.nhs.co.uk/services/qof.