Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure that GP surgeries with low performing Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) data are provided with additional support for (1) diagnosing, and (2) treating, heart failure.

The Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) is an annual voluntary incentive programme for general practitioner (GP) practices in England, which rewards practices for meeting the required thresholds for each indicator. No additional support is offered specifically to low-performing practices.

NHS England is implementing measures to raise awareness of the symptoms of heart failure and ensure early and rapid access to diagnostic tests and treatment, overseen by the National Clinical Director for Heart Disease and supported by an Expert Advisory Group of clinical experts. This includes the launch of community diagnostic centres which could deliver over one million additional computerised tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, ultrasound scans, echocardiograms scans and X-rays. This will support Primary Care Networks to increase diagnostic capacity for the detection of conditions such as heart failure and heart valve disease.

NHS England has developed five ‘NHS@Home’ pilots to support patients with heart failure in the community. The ‘Managing Heart Failure @home’ scheme aims to support people living with heart failure to manage their condition at home through patient education and remote monitoring. Working with a specialist clinician, patients are supported to understand their medications, reduce salt intake, monitor and record daily weight and blood pressure measurements and recognise symptoms which may indicate deterioration. The ‘Blood Pressure @Home’ initiative allocated more than 220,000 blood pressure monitors in England to enable at-risk patients to measure their blood pressure remotely and share the results with their GP practice, reducing the need for appointments and travel. These schemes aim to reduce hospital admissions and increase patients’ quality of life, through improved understanding of the management of the condition and communication with primary, community and specialist teams.