Pipeline / In review

How to Hit Your QOF Targets Before 31 March 2027

pipeline/03-review/refresh-qof-targets.md · updated Sat 20 Oct, 02:46

Front matter

StageIn review
Typerefresh
Clusterqof
Personapractice-manager
Target queryhow to achieve qof targets
OwnerTom
Proof refsnone, no register numbers used
Replaceshttps://www.hippolabs.co.uk/blog/hitting-qof-targets-deadline

Copy into Framer

Each field maps to the CMS item
TitleHow to Hit Your QOF Targets Before 31 March 2027
Slughitting-qof-targets-deadline
Meta descriptionA practical QOF year-end plan for GP practice managers: which indicators to start first, how to avoid a March rush, and the coding that loses points. (149 chars)
BodyFormatted. H1 removed because the title has its own field.

Reviewer notes

Not for publication
REVIEWER NOTES (not for publication) THEO, please check: 1. Indicator thresholds quoted (HYP008 140/90, DM020 HbA1c 58 mmol/mol) are correct for 2026/27. They come from our help centre glossary, exported August 2026, not from NHS England directly. 2. "Process" versus "treat to target" framing. It is operational advice, but it touches clinical indicators, so it is routed to you under rule 4. 3. Whether the exception reporting and personalised care adjustment paragraph is accurate for 2026/27. TOM, please note: - The brief says 25/26. That QOF year ended 31 March 2026. This draft targets 2026/27, deadline 31 March 2027. - The brief also asks for "what changed this year" from NHS England. I have not invented it. The marked section below needs a cited NHS England source or should be cut. - Slug unchanged to keep rankings. No register numbers used.
NEEDS SOURCE OR CUT: "What changed for 2026/27" Brief requires current-year indicator changes from NHS England QOF guidance, cited. Do not publish this heading without a primary source link.

Body

You have until 31 March to complete this QOF year. Most practices that miss points do not run out of patients. They run out of appointments in February and March. The fix is to start the hard indicators now and leave the easy ones for last.

When is the QOF deadline?

31 March 2027. Achievement is measured at the end of the QOF year, and annual indicators reset on 1 April. Anything not recorded by 31 March does not count for this year.

Which indicators should you start first?

Treat-to-target indicators. Start them in the autumn.

There are two kinds of QOF work:

  • Process indicators complete in one contact. A smoking status recorded. A foot check done. A cessation offer made.
  • Treat-to-target indicators need a result inside a threshold. Blood pressure at or below 140/90 for hypertensive patients aged 79 and under (HYP008). HbA1c at or below 58 mmol/mol for non-frail diabetic patients (DM020).

A treat-to-target patient may need a reading, a medication change, and another reading weeks later. If you first contact them in February, there is no time for the second reading. Recall them now.

Process indicators can wait. A patient who only needs a smoking status recorded can be completed in a single text reply in March.

How do you avoid the March pile-up?

Spread recall across the year instead of saving it for the last quarter.

  • Run campaigns continuously. A campaign that sends a steady number of invites every day books far more patients than one big push in January.
  • Send more than one invite per slot for high-volume clinics. Not everyone books first time. Several invites per available appointment fills clinics faster.
  • Avoid recalling patients seen recently. A patient reviewed in February becomes eligible again on 1 April. A delay after recent care stops you spending April appointments on patients who were seen weeks ago.

Which patients are quickest to complete?

The ones who only need something recorded.

Many patients on a register are missing a single item: a smoking status, a blood pressure, a review that happened but was not coded. Find these first with a search, then contact them with a simple message they can reply to. They are cheap points.

What coding loses points?

Missing or wrong codes, not missing care.

  • Care done but not coded. A review held without the right code recorded does not count.
  • Declines and exceptions. If a patient declines, or an indicator is not appropriate for them, record it with the correct code. Otherwise they stay in your denominator as a miss.
  • Same-day requirements. Some indicators need two things recorded together. The annual asthma review (AST007) needs a written personalised action plan on the same day as the review, and an exacerbation count recorded in the month before. Miss either and the review does not count.

Check your coding on a sample of completed patients each month. Errors found in March are expensive. Errors found in October are cheap.

How do you track progress week by week?

Watch achievement by indicator, not just the overall score.

Your overall QOF score hides where the gaps are. Track each indicator weekly against where you need to be by 31 March. If an indicator is behind in December, it will not catch up on its own.

Next steps

Recall is the engine behind most QOF work. Read 7 ways to get more patients booked through recall.

To see how Hippo finds every patient due an indicator and recalls them automatically, get started or book a demo.