GPs and their practices are to be scored out of 10 for how their patients rate their experiences under new data being published in England for the first time.

Doctors’ leaders, however, have described the data as too simplistic, lacking detail, and creating a risk of overwhelming patients with information.

From 7 June, the Department of Health will be publishing data online about various issues such as appointments, communication skills, and waiting times at GP practices in England.

This patient experience information, which has been gathered from patients’ responses to the annual GP Patient Survey, will be available on the NHS Choices website (www.nhs.uk/Pages/HomePage.aspx) and the idea is that it will allow patients to …