MyNHS Service Is Formally Launched

MyNHS, a new website where people can compare the performance of local hospitals, care services and their local authority with up-to-date information, has been launched by the Health Secretary.

According to the government, this is the first time such a wide range of performance indicators has been made available in this way.

Data that is searchable on the new websites includes information about food quality, staffing, patient safety and mental health, along with other areas of care.

“Targets matter – and the key A&E and 18 week targets have driven huge improvement over the last 15 years,” claimed Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt.

“Perhaps because of that success, we have allowed a conventional wisdom that the best way to change anything is through yet another target and a bit more money.

“Healthcare globally has been slow to develop the kind of safety culture based on openness and transparency that has become normal in the airline, oil and nuclear industries.

“The NHS is now blazing a trail across the world as the first major health economy to adapt this kind of culture,” he added.

Hunt also drew upon the example of Sir Bruce Keogh and heart surgery colleagues that were able to achieve dramatic improvements in performance 10 years ago – not by setting new targets, but because they published results for individual cardiac surgeons for the first time.

“Transparency is about patient outcomes, not process targets. It uses the power of a learning culture and of peer review, not blame,” the Health Secretary claimed.

First Phase And Beyond

Data collection for MyNHS began in September and from last week, it became a place for people to search consultant outcome data, completing the first phase of the site.

The government claims this will allow the NHS and patients to better see and measure progress in health outcomes.

From December, patients will also have access to the Care Quality Commission’s individual risk rating for GP practices.

It is hoped that over time, more data will be added, including one-year and five-year cancer survival rates for NHS Trusts, ultimate becoming an increasingly powerful resource for patients, doctors and local NHS commissioners.

“The NHS is world leading in publishing surgical outcomes – it is one of the first to embark on this and covers the highest number of specialties,” claimed past president of the Royal College of Surgeons Professor Norman Williams.

“More generally, the NHS has shown leadership and ambition in its approach to transparency by publishing such a wide range of information on quality and performance.

“This kind of breadth of information will help continually drive up standards,” he added.

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