Data Sources & Methodology

Organisation Data Service (ODS)

The ODS, managed by NHS Digital, provides the definitive list of GP practices in England. We use ODS data for practice names, addresses, organisation codes and status information.

Source: NHS Digital ODS

Care Quality Commission (CQC)

The CQC inspects and rates GP practices across five key domains: Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-led. Each practice receives an overall rating of Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement or Inadequate.

We import CQC ratings data to provide inspection results and rating breakdowns for each practice.

Source: CQC Open Data

GP Patient Survey

The GP Patient Survey is an annual survey conducted by Ipsos on behalf of NHS England. It asks patients about their experiences at their GP practice, covering areas such as making appointments, phone access, trust in the GP, and overall satisfaction.

We use practice-level survey results to display patient satisfaction metrics and feed these into our composite scoring.

Source: GP Patient Survey

OpenPrescribing

OpenPrescribing, developed by the Bennett Institute at the University of Oxford, provides detailed prescribing data for every GP practice in England. This includes monthly item counts, costs and the specific drugs prescribed.

We use this data to show prescribing costs per patient, top prescribed medications and monthly trends for each practice.

Source: OpenPrescribing.net

Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF)

The QOF is a voluntary annual reward and incentive programme for GP practices. It measures practice performance across a range of clinical indicators covering conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, asthma and mental health.

We display QOF prevalence rates and achievement scores at practice level, allowing comparison of clinical quality across practices.

Source: NHS Digital QOF

Composite GP Score Calculation

The GPScan composite GP Score is calculated by combining multiple data points into a single weighted score. This gives a quick, comparable measure of practice quality. The score takes into account:

• CQC overall rating and sub-domain ratings
• Patient satisfaction scores (overall experience, phone access, recommendation rates)
• Prescribing cost efficiency
• QOF achievement rates

Each component is normalised and weighted to produce a score that reflects overall practice performance. The exact weightings are periodically reviewed to ensure the score remains meaningful and fair.