Surgeon performance data published from next summer

Sir David Nicholson, the head of the health service, has said information regarding the performance of individual surgeons should begin to be published in the summer of 2013.

Sir David explained that publishing data on an individual level would let surgeons make comparisons between their performance and lead to improvements.

He said he was keen to ensure data on surgical specialties followed the example of information about heart surgeons which is already published.

Publishing information on surgical performance will be compulsory from April 2014.

The move has attracted criticism from medics who said that surgeons who performed the most complex and dangerous operations could appear to be the worst at their jobs, based on performance data.

Sir David agreed this could cause issues but "accuracy would improve in time".

He said: "People have been talking about consultant level data but never done it. It is time to take a lead."

Dr Mark Porter, chairman of the British Medical Association, said: "There is still more to be done to ensure that data about consultants' performance is meaningful."

"Basic mortality figures alone could mislead patients because they fail to take into account other factors that might have contributed to the death of a patient."

Share this page