Comment from Miss Clare Marx

For the second year running the publishing of consultant outcomes data shows our commitment towards improving the standard of care that our patients receive and leading the way in openness and accountability in the NHS. As surgeons we are proud to lead the way in collecting and publishing individual consultant outcomes.

Improving care is not an instant process. Year on year we continue to develop our practice and I am pleased to see that publishing individual consultant surgeons outcomes has become an integral part of that process.

The data being published of around 5,000 consultant surgeons looking at over 28 procedures is crucial for allowing surgeons to reflect on their own performance, but also provides patients with further information on their surgeon and procedures. The patient-surgeon relationship is based on trust and our profession is committed to working with patients to ensure they receive the best care possible; publishing consultant outcomes is just one way we are seeking to improve what we do.

Surgeons have worked consistently over the last year to collect their data dealing with a number of complexities to ensure that the data submitted is reliable and clear, taking into account any necessary risk-adjustments required when treating high-risk cases. With complex data sets it is difficult to give the full picture of the work surgeons and hospital teams perform. It is important that the data from each specialty association is analysed individually in order to give a true reflection of the work.

We regard the collecting of consultant outcomes data as an extremely valuable endeavour and one that we will continue to see progress and evolve over time.