A recent survey has found that almost half of GPs would opt out of nationally negotiated Quality Outcome Framework (QOF) deals and switch to a local contract, if offered the chance by their Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).

Following Somerset’s decision to opt out of QOF, having been told that they can negotiate a new scheme that reflects local priorities, around 46 per cent of GPs elsewhere in England said that ‘in principle’ they would follow the county’s lead if their own CCG offered an alternative.

The reasons given for this were that a local deal would be more relevant to health needs in the locality and would allow them to spend more time with patients, with many claiming that the QOF scheme is no longer about patient care.

One GP, who seemed to speak for this group, said that now budgets for primary care services are expected to be spent wisely and locally by CCGs, as well as being increasingly integrated with the social care provided by local authorities, it does not make sense to have central QOF targets.

However, 37 per cent said they were wary of the details of opting out, so were undecided which way to go until they saw local proposals. That said, only 17 per cent said they categorically would not leave the national scheme.

The General Practitioners’ Committee (GPC) is against such local deals, however, with GP leaders voting against propagating further local devolution at an annual conference in May.

Meanwhile, an NHS England spokesperson said that it will be carefully monitoring and evaluating the Somerset quality scheme pilot to understand the impact it has on quality of care and health outcomes to help inform its thinking going forward.