By Richard Johnstone | 1 November 2013
The NHS is to publish a range of new information on the performance of hospital treatments and individual doctors across the country as part of an expanded transparency drive.
The announcement was made by NHS England’s national clinical director Sir Bruce Keogh, who told the Open Government Partnership summit yesterday that such transparency was crucial to healthcare.
Among the information that will now be published is data on the performance of individual clinicians, following the first release of individual surgeon level data, across 10 specialties, in June.
More overall clinical indicators, including monitoring of performance in cancer treatment, children’s services, mental health and stroke data, will be made available, starting from next summer.
Keogh also reiterated that the that the friends and family test, which currently applies to hospitals, would be extended across the NHS to cover GP practices and community and mental health services in December 2014, and all other NHS services by 2015.
Tim Kelsey, NHS England’s national director for patients and information, added that this was the single most important step forward in transparency for healthcare anywhere in the world, and the health service was committed to giving patients a voice to help improve services.
‘These new measures will transform outcomes, put citizens at the centre of everything we do and will provide the means by which NHS England will be at the cutting edge of medical science,’ he said.
‘Greater transparency will empower patients and citizens to hold the health service to account and at the same time support life sciences research so that more life-saving treatments can be found.’
