NHS Analytics in 2026: QOF, IIF, and the Reporting Demands That Came Out of the Hewitt Review

Post-Hewitt-Review NHS analytics expectations are sharper. ICBs that managed by quarterly reports in 2024 are now expected to evidence near-real-time visibility into QOF achievement, IIF performance, and the core dataset. The change is partly cultural — the Review pushed for more decentralized accountability — and partly technical: the infrastructure to support live monitoring is finally cheap.

What changed in QOF for 2026/27

QOF indicator changes for the 2026/27 contract year focus on:

• Cardiovascular prevention indicators (cholesterol management, BP control).
• Mental health indicator updates including SMI physical health checks.
• Quality improvement modules — one menstrual health, one workforce wellbeing.
• Continued retirement of low-yield indicators.

The total QOF point pool moved modestly. The bigger shift is in how achievement is monitored — annual QOF closure has been replaced at well-run practices by continuous mid-year tracking.

IIF in 2026/27

The Investment and Impact Fund (IIF) continues to direct PCN-level incentive payments toward specific outcomes — flu vaccinations, learning disability annual health checks, cancer pathway timeliness, and others. IIF achievement is calculated at PCN level, so member practices need analytics that can roll up across the network.

The Hewitt Review pushed for IIF that better reflects ICB priorities. Several ICBs have layered local indicators on top of national IIF — and these need to be tracked alongside national measures, not separately.

The core dataset expectation

ICBs are increasingly expected to have a live view of their core dataset — population, deprivation, comorbidity profile, demand pressures. Practices that operate inside ICBs feel this as a request for more frequent, more granular data than QOF/IIF alone require.

What the analytics layer must do

1. Connect to both SystmOne and EMIS — most ICBs span both. See SystmOne vs EMIS.
2. Map SNOMED CT codes natively. Both EHRs use SNOMED; the analytics layer must too.
3. Aggregate at practice, PCN, and ICB levels with the right permissions for each.
4. Refresh continuously — annual is no longer enough.

The 2026/27 prep checklist

For practice managers, PCN clinical directors, and ICB analytics leads:

• Confirm your analytics platform supports the new QOF indicator definitions.
• Validate IIF achievement at PCN level for the previous quarter against your platform's numbers.
• Set up monthly review of underperforming indicators rather than annual.
• Ensure any local ICB indicators are tracked alongside national ones.

Vizier connects to SystmOne and EMIS via direct connector and ships QOF + IIF analytics for both. Cross-system PCN aggregation is built-in.