The data presented below represents another year of hard work by primary care teams nationally; successfully managing people with diabetes and their associated cardiovascular risk. This is now the third year of the publication of QOF data, and it continues to show how successful the primary care community can be when they pursue evidence-based targets, thus, justifying the Governments’ investment in incentives to reward high performance.
There is a steady and consistent increase in the documentation of both hypertension and diabetes, whereas both coronary heart disease and stroke seem to have stabilised, perhaps representing better management of these conditions. The database associated with the QOF data continues to supply interesting prevalence rates for diabetes within the four nations making up the NHS, which have also stayed consistent, with Wales maintaining the highest incidence of diabetes.
The QOF percentage achievement points in diabetes care and the other associated cardiovascular risk illnesses do not reflect a great deal of difference from the 05/06 year. Those working with patients with diabetes will accept that these figures have probably plateaued, while representing very significant and consistent achievements by teams. Another round of QOF and contract negotiations scheduled for 2008 may present new challenges for teams, but until then they can be pleased with another high achieving year!
What can we do in practice to reduce the risk of this common yet underdiagnosed microvascular complication of diabetes?
12 Dec 2024