GP ratings site criticised by rival

The GP practice rating service launched by NHS Choices received 1,600 comments in its first 24 hours of operation, according to the Department of Health.

A DH spokesperson told EHI Primary Care that about 80% of the comments received were positive and said it would continue to monitor the number and type of comments made.

The GP practice ratings service received a lukewarm welcome from the BMA, which has worked with the DH to develop the site.

It said it was pleased that many of its concerns about issues such as malicious postings and the ability to post a right of reply had been listened to - but questioned the value of the service.

The website has also been criticised by Dr Neil Bacon, founder of rival site iwantgreatcare.org, who claimed it was too little, too late.

He told EHI Primary Care: “What patients want and what doctors want is to know how good individual clinicians are. It doesn’t really help anyone to have a practice average rating when most practices have a few really good doctors, a few average ones and one or two who are not good.”

Dr Bacon said his own site now included more than 40,000 views, of which around 90% were positive.

The site has also expanded to offer its services to primary care trusts and NHS trusts seeking more detailed feedback from patients about individual doctors. Dr Bacon said contracts included NHS Milton Keynes, where the primary care trust is encouraging patients to rate their GPs using iwantgreatcare.org.

He claimed a ‘tiny minority’ were concerned about anonymous comments being made about individual doctors. iwantgreatcare.org is also expanding to cover other groups such as dentists, pharmacists and nursing homes.