This dataset reports the percentage of patients registered with a general practice who have a recorded diagnosis of established hypertension. The data is derived from the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) provided by NHS Digital. It offers a snapshot of the burden of hypertension within primary care populations and supports efforts to monitor and manage this key cardiovascular risk factor.
Rationale
Hypertension is a leading risk factor for cardiovascular disease, stroke, and kidney disease. Reducing its prevalence is a public health priority. This indicator helps identify the scale of the issue within GP-registered populations and supports targeted interventions to improve detection, treatment, and control of high blood pressure.
Numerator
The numerator includes all patients with a diagnosis of established hypertension, as recorded on their GP practice's disease register. This information is collected through the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF), which incentivizes accurate clinical coding and record-keeping.
Denominator
The denominator is the total number of patients registered at the GP practice, also sourced from the QOF. This allows for the calculation of the proportion of patients affected by hypertension.
Caveats
There are no specific caveats noted for this indicator. However, the accuracy of prevalence estimates depends on consistent diagnosis and recording practices across GP practices. Underdiagnosis or variations in coding may affect comparability between practices or regions.
External References
Further information and related indicators can be found on the Fingertips Public Health Profiles website.
Localities Explained
This dataset contains data based on either the resident locality or registered locality of the patient, a distinction is made between resident locality and registered locality populations:
- Resident Locality refers to individuals who live within the defined geographic boundaries of the locality. These boundaries are aligned with official administrative areas such as wards and Lower Layer Super Output Areas (LSOAs).
- Registered Locality refers to individuals who are registered with GP practices that are assigned to a locality based on the Primary Care Network (PCN) they belong to. These assignments are approximate—PCNs are mapped to a locality based on the location of most of their GP surgeries. As a result, locality-registered patients may live outside the locality, sometimes even in different towns or cities.
This distinction is important because some health indicators are only available at GP practice level, without information on where patients actually reside. In such cases, data is attributed to the locality based on GP registration, not residential address.
Click here to explore more from the Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Partnerships Outcome Framework.