Patients can rate trusts and comment on their experiences of secondary care, although references to individual clinicians or health professionals will be removed in classic Stalinist style.

They will also be able to compare hospitals on factors such as average length of stay for different treatments, readmission rates, patient survey results and infection levels.

Junior health minister Andy Burnham told HSJ: ‘Health is the second most researched topic on the internet. There’s lots of information out there but what is lacking is lots of validated, authoritative, relevant information. We will see criticism but I also feel people will log on to record thanks and appreciation.’

An electronic health library used by clinicians has been re-written in ‘ordinary language’ so patients can find out more about illnesses and treatments. The website will be able to create tailored individual and family health risk assessments based on age, sex and location.

Hospitals are being encouraged to add to the site by creating their own pages with localised information, governed by the same advertising guidelines used across the NHS. In time, the system is likely to be rolled out to primary care, although unsurprisingly this is still under develpment. Services provided through the independent sector on the NHS can also be rated.

The DoH has spent £3.6m on the website and plans to spend a further £10m a year to keep it going. It is run by Dr Foster Intelligence.

The DoH is also looking at making information available through mobile phones.

The health choices website is at: www.nhschoices.nhs.uk
From:
http://www.hsj.co.uk/healthservicejournal/pages/N1/p9/070621

Health Direct has just conducted a survey of 10 local dentists who are listed on the new nhs choices website. All are listed as
# NOT Currently Accepting New Fee Paying NHS Patients
# NOT Accepting New Charge Exempt Adults for NHS Treatment
# NOT Accepting New Children Aged 0-18 years for NHS Treatment
# DOES NOT Provide Urgent Dental Access Slots

Ergo Health Direct asks the Dept of Health what on earth is the point of your expensive website if patients can’t access the local services that the NHS is supposed to provide?

Voters want health services not yet more expensive spin. So nhschoices.nhs.uk becomes yet another example of labour wasting taxpayers’ money in the name of saving the NHS.