process for negotiating and approving changes to the QOF. NICE acts independently when producing clinical and public health guidance for the NHS and we will bring this experience to assessing evidence and developing indicators for the QOF. By overseeing the process of developing and reviewing performance indicators for the QOF, we can ensure that the principles behind our recommendations are reflected in the indicators. This will encourage the implementation of guidance and lead to improvements in care across the UK. Partner organisations A number of partner organisations contribute to the development of clinical and health improvement indicators for the QOF. A brief summary of the role played by these organisations are given below. The Primary Care Group in the School of Health and Population Sciences at the University of Birmingham in collaboration with the York Health Economics Consortium (YHEC) will develop indicators on clinical or public health topics that are recommended by the independent Primary Care QOF Indicator Advisory Committee. They will provide an ongoing review of QOF indicators to make recommendations to the Committee on thresholds, continued incentivisation and the evidence base. They will apply a cost-effectiveness methodology to the indicators and provide recommendations to the Committee. The NHS Information Centre, working with Connecting for Health, is responsible for managing the production of business rules and data extraction solutions to support the process, including Read code releases, and will work with the four UK health departments. NHS Evidence will provide accredited sources of evidence. These sources of evidence will