Every year, GP practices across the UK face the dual challenge of maintaining excellent patient care while navigating the demands of operational targets and seasonal pressures. Two of the most critical periods in the NHS calendar are the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) assessment period and the flu vaccination season.

Both place immense strain on practice teams, from managing patient appointments and vaccine enquiries to ensuring accurate data capture and timely follow ups. For many surgeries, these pressures can lead to missed opportunities to improve patient satisfaction and QOF scores.

At CallCare Health, we work closely with healthcare providers to relieve these administrative burdens. By managing calls, booking appointments and handling patient enquiries efficiently, we help practices stay focused on clinical care while ensuring patients receive the responsive service they expect.

This article explores the latest insights from the 2025 QOF statistics and the 2025 GP Patient Survey, highlighting why communication and accessibility are at the heart of patient satisfaction and how outsourcing certain tasks can make a measurable difference.

The Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) is a key part of how GP practices are measured and funded. Introduced in 2004, QOF rewards practices for providing high quality care across a range of clinical and organisational indicators.
Each year, practices receive their QOF results, which assess areas such as:

• Clinical indicators – managing chronic conditions like diabetes, hypertension and asthma.
  
• Public health – supporting vaccinations, cancer screenings and lifestyle advice.
• Patient experience – accessibility, responsiveness and continuity of care.
• Practice organisation – record keeping, safety and use of digital tools.
  

The 2025 QOF results, released on 28th August 2025, show that while many practices maintained strong performance, others saw a decline in their overall achievement. For those with lower scores or a negative year on year trend, understanding why results dipped is essential.

A range of factors can affect QOF outcomes, but one of the most common and overlooked is patient access. When patients struggle to reach their GP practice, whether to book an appointment, chase results or ask a simple question, satisfaction drops.

According to the 2025 GP Patient Survey, accessibility remains one of the biggest pain points for patients. Many reported difficulty getting through by phone, long call queues, or no response during busy periods.

This creates a ripple effect:

• Frustrated patients are less likely to engage with ongoing care plans.
• Missed appointments and delayed consultations affect clinical outcomes.
• Practices risk receiving lower QOF marks under the “patient experience” category.

A lower QOF score doesn’t just impact funding, it can also affect reputation and patient retention. That’s why practices need proactive systems in place to ensure consistent, high quality communication.

The 2025 GP Patient Survey, published alongside the QOF results, provides valuable insights into patient experience across Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) in England.

Some key findings include:

• Phone access remains the top complaint, with many patients saying it’s still difficult to get through to their GP.
• Satisfaction with appointment availability dropped compared to 2024.
• Patients value continuity, wanting to see or speak to the same clinician.
• Digital access (online and app based systems) improved slightly but still lags behind patient expectations.

These results are supported by the GP Patient Survey Infographic and the National Report, which highlight communication and responsiveness as two of the strongest predictors of overall satisfaction.

In other words, patients want to feel heard, supported and able to contact their GP easily.

Flu season typically runs from October through March, with peak activity between December and January. During this time, practices face a surge in demand from patients booking vaccinations to those experiencing flu like symptoms and requiring medical advice.

This seasonal influx can be overwhelming for reception teams already managing high call volumes, repeat prescription requests and administrative queries.

When phone lines become congested, patient frustration rises and vital clinical time is lost managing logistics rather than care delivery. The NHS encourages practices to plan flu campaigns well in advance, but even with strong preparation, staffing and resource limitations remain a challenge.

Outsourcing call handling during flu season can transform how efficiently a practice operates.

CallCare Health provides specialised healthcare call handling and enquiry management designed to integrate seamlessly with existing GP workflows. Our experienced call handlers act as an extension of your practice, ensuring patients receive professional, empathetic support while freeing your in house team to focus on clinical priorities.

Here’s how we help:

1. Flu Jab Appointment Booking and Management
   We can manage inbound calls and online requests for flu vaccinations, schedule appointments directly into your system (where integrated), and provide clear information to patients about eligibility and next steps.
2. Overflow Call Handling
   During peak times, every missed call represents a missed opportunity to serve a patient and potentially, a lower satisfaction score. Our team ensures every call is answered, messages are accurately logged and patients receive timely follow ups.
3. Patient Enquiry Management
   We handle routine queries about opening hours, repeat prescriptions, referrals and general advice, freeing up your administrative staff for more complex or sensitive issues.
4. Out of Hours Support
   Many patients call early morning or late evening. With 24/7 coverage available, CallCare Health ensures continuity of care and improved accessibility, even outside normal practice hours.
5. Improved Data Capture and Reporting
   Accurate call handling supports better record keeping and helps identify communication bottlenecks that could be affecting your QOF scores.

The QOF framework rewards practices that demonstrate continuous improvement and patient engagement. Many of the QOF indicators, particularly under the “Patient Experience” and “Public Health” domains, are directly influenced by how well patients can access care.

For example:

• Timely access to appointments helps ensure chronic conditions are monitored and managed appropriately.
• Effective communication leads to better adherence to care plans and medication schedules.
• Proactive patient contact for flu vaccinations or check ups supports public health targets.

By partnering with CallCare Health, practices can improve these areas without adding extra strain to their internal teams. Outsourcing ensures no enquiry goes unanswered and every patient interaction is handled professionally, contributing to stronger QOF performance and higher patient satisfaction.

Research consistently shows that a large proportion of calls to GP practices go unanswered, especially during busy hours. Each missed call represents:

• Lost patient trust – patients who can’t get through may delay or abandon their care.
• Administrative backlog – missed messages lead to follow-up calls and inefficiencies.
• Negative patient feedback – complaints and survey results often cite poor accessibility.

The cumulative impact of missed calls can be substantial, both financially and reputationally. By ensuring every patient interaction is managed effectively, CallCare Health helps reduce call abandonment rates and improve first contact resolution.

Imagine a practice serving 12,000 patients in an urban area. As flu season begins, the surgery launches its annual vaccination campaign. Within a week, the reception team is fielding hundreds of calls daily, from eligible patients requesting appointments to those with general health concerns.

Without additional support, queues build up, patients become frustrated and staff face burnout.

By routing overflow calls to CallCare Health, the practice can:

• Maintain fast response times and shorter queues.
• Keep phone lines open for urgent clinical calls.
• Record accurate data on vaccine bookings and patient communications.
• Deliver a smoother, more professional experience for every caller.

The result? Better patient engagement, improved operational efficiency, and ultimately, a stronger foundation for next year’s QOF review.

Trust is the cornerstone of patient relationships. When patients feel their GP practice is accessible, responsive and organised, they are more likely to engage proactively with their healthcare.

Outsourcing elements of patient communication doesn’t mean losing control, it means expanding capacity and improving reliability. CallCare Health works closely with each practice to maintain a consistent tone of voice, ensure data security compliance and uphold the same level of professionalism patients expect.

Every call is handled in line with NHS data governance standards, ensuring confidentiality and accuracy at all times.

As the healthcare landscape continues to evolve, the expectations placed on GP practices will only increase. Whether improving QOF scores, meeting patient access targets, or managing the demands of seasonal health campaigns, efficiency and communication are key.

Partnering with a trusted healthcare call handling provider like CallCare Health allows your team to:

• Reduce missed calls and improve response times.
• Manage flu jab bookings and public health campaigns more efficiently.
• Free clinical and administrative staff to focus on patient care.
• Enhance overall patient satisfaction, a critical QOF metric.

Now is the ideal time to review your practice’s communication systems and ensure you’re ready for the next flu season and QOF assessment cycle.

The latest QOF results and patient survey findings make one thing clear: communication is central to patient experience and practice performance.

By leveraging professional call handling and patient enquiry management services, GP practices can ease the strain on their teams, improve accessibility and deliver a more positive experience for patients all while strengthening QOF outcomes.

At CallCare Health, we specialise in supporting healthcare providers with reliable, patient centred communication solutions that make a measurable difference.

Whether you need help managing seasonal flu enquiries, reducing missed calls, or improving patient engagement, our team is here to help.

Contact CallCare Health today to find out how we can support your practice in improving efficiency, enhancing patient satisfaction and achieving stronger QOF performance.