New NHS data sharing initiative to provide GP surgery ratings

The government's latest effort to make NHS data more publicly accessible will include a new rating system for GP surgeries.

Patient responses from the GP Patient Survey are to be used to give more than 8,000 GP practices in England scores out of ten, thus helping people to choose the right surgery, while also serving to drive up standards.

Relevant measures of patient experiences will include how convenient it is to get an appointment, reception waiting times, length of opening hours and the quality of communication from doctors and nurses.

This information will be available through the NHS Choices website, which will also allow users to find a surgery with experience of treating people with similar conditions such as diabetes, coronary heart disease and epilepsy.

Health minister Lord Howe said: "This data will not only help patients choose the right GP surgery for them but will also give GP surgeries and the NHS new information they can use to make fresh, innovative improvements."

Further initiatives planned under the government's new healthcare information strategy include making test results and medical records available to patients online.