Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Quality and Outcomes Framework guidance in ensuring appropriate management of patients with diabetes.

The Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) 2024/25 includes indicators for the effective control and management of diabetes. Performance improvements associated with the indicators in the QOF are seen in improvements in the care and management of diabetes.

Annual diabetes reviews are associated with reduced emergency admissions, amputations, retinopathy, and mortality. Following a significant decrease in routine care delivery associated with the pandemic, the proportion of people with type 1 diabetes receiving all eight care processes had recovered back to 43.3% in 2023/24, and 62.3% for type 2 diabetes. This is comparted to 27% and 37% for 2020/21, respectively.

The National Diabetes Audit core data for 2023/24 shows a steady trend of improvement in foot surveillance. The audit shows that the percentage of people with type 1 diabetes who received general practice foot checks in England reached 68.9%, versus 67.2% in 2022/23. The proportion of people with type 2 diabetes who received foot check examinations in 2023/24 was 81.3%, up from 78.8% in 2022/23. The foot check is financially incentivised via the QOF, and this is an important lever for maintaining high quality foot care.