Behind the scenes at a company that measures healthcare standards

Over the past year the media has been awash with information about the relative standards of different hospitals and consultants. Some of this information, which is aimed at the healthcare consumer, has come from the government. But also riding high on the crest of this league table wave is a small private publishing company, Dr Foster, whose logo reads: “Your guide to better health.”

The company may not yet be a household name, but it is certainly intent on creating a media impact. It has already published—last November—in association with the Times several consumer guides to hospital consultants. These guides were packed with region by region information about consultants in various specialties, including heart surgery and neurology. The Dr Foster Good Birth Guide—a 500 page compendium that the company boasts is “the only fully comprehensive guide to maternity services in the United Kingdom”—was published in January. But it is perhaps the Dr Foster Good Hospital Guide, due …