Will lead to league tables of performance

Some family health services authorities are now producing performance indicators for the general practices they administer.1 2 3 With the move towards a primary care led NHS,4 5 these indicators will become an important management tool. League tables of practice performance are a possibility: for example, practices could be ranked by rates of uptake of cervical smear tests and the proportion of drugs prescribed generically. Many general practitioners, particularly those who work in deprived communities, will find this development threatening and may think that league tables will unfairly label their practice as performing poorly. Family health services authorities must therefore ensure that performance indicators are interpreted appropriately.6

Performance indicators may be used to identify and reward high performing practices with increased allocations for staff and premises. Conversely, if resources are allocated according …