NHS website aims to boost choice
18 June 2008
A new website is being launched in an attempt to strengthen patient choice.
The £3.6m NHS Choices website will include information on issues as varied as waiting times, hospital ratings and general cleanliness. It is aimed at helping patients choose where they want to be treated when they need non-emergency surgery.
Ministers also hope it will lead to detailed data on clinical outcomes being published - to date only heart surgeons reveal performance statistics. Patients have been given a choice of where they can go to be treated for non-emergency treatment since last year.
At the moment, patients are given a choice of at least four local hospitals and the top-performing foundation trusts.
More information can be found on the BBC Website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6756529.stm