Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the financial implications of removing the quality and outcomes framework indicator for seizure freedom (EP002) in 2014.

When the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) indicator EP002 was retired, all of the funding in relation to it was reinvested back into general practitioner (GP) contract core funding (global sum) payments and into new enhanced services to be delivered in general practice. The reduction in the number of QOF indicators was intended to reduce bureaucracy, unnecessary patient testing and unnecessary frequency of patient recall and recording. It was also to allow GPs to use their professional judgement to treat their patients according to best practice guidelines.