People looking into having private medical procedures can now view information about over 10,000 consultant doctors on the Private Healthcare Information Network (PHIN) website, www.phin.org.uk, from the comfort of their own homes.
The landmark figure has been reached as part of PHIN’s work to make the independent healthcare sector more transparent to help patients make better informed decisions. The data includes fee information, hospitals worked at and patient satisfaction, as well as details about the specific procedures they carry out and how many of them each year.
Alongside these consultants, the website also has profiles for more than 500 hospital sites. Having this information on the PHIN website makes it easier for patients to choose where to undergo procedures and who should conduct them.
Dr Ian Gargan, PHIN Chief Executive, said: “During the pandemic we all saw the success of the NHS ‘Couch to 5K’ programme and we’re delighted to also be able to support patient health with our own version by bringing 10,000 consultants’ details to patients’ homes or ‘10k to couch’.
“We’re grateful to all the consultants – which is now the vast majority of surgeons – who have taken the time to supply their details. We are working with anaesthetists and consultant physicians over the coming months to begin adding them to the website as well. We recommend that anyone considering a private procedure visits our unbiased, free website first so that they better understand their options.”
PHIN is a not-for-profit, specialist data collection organisation that tracks activity in the private healthcare sector. Hospitals and consultants are required to submit information to PHIN under the Competition and Markets Authority’s Private Healthcare Market Investigation Order 2014.
There are just over 12,000 consultants and 645 hospitals identified by admitted patient care (APC) data operating across the UK.
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