Researchers at Imperial College London examined 10,274 ratings of all NHS acute hospital trusts in England submitted on NHS Choices in 2009 and 2010. They found that hospitals with better patient ratings tend to have lower death rates and lower readmission rates. Hospitals rated by patients as being cleaner have lower rates of MRSA infections.
"There are a lot of data available to the public on hospital performance, but people rarely use conventional measures and often find them difficult to understand," said Dr Felix Greaves, from the School of Public Health at Imperial College London, who led the study. "Our results suggest that NHS Choices ratings may provide useful and relevant information for patients making choices about their care."
When the 25 per cent of hospitals with the best ratings on NHS Choices are compared with the 25 per cent rated worst, mortality rates were 5 per cent lower and readmission rates were 11 per cent lower in the more highly-rated hospitals. The 25 per cent of hospitals with best cleanliness ratings had a 42 per cent lower rate of MRSA infections than the 25 per cent of hospitals with the worst cleanliness ratings.
"The match between online ratings and other measures is far from perfect - it's possible for an individual hospital to have good ratings on NHS Choices but a high mortality rate, or vice versa," Dr Greaves said. "However, the general trend is that where a hospital's overall performance on clinical measures is good, patients seem to rate it highly - and vice versa.
"In our article we compare these findings to James Surowiecki's book, The Wisdom of Crowds, about how collective judgements result in better decisions than individuals can make by themselves. We suggest that, at least to an extent, the crowd of patients appears to be wise."
The results also showed that the majority of ratings were positive, with 68 per cent of respondents saying they would recommend their hospital to friends.
"This means it's not just used by people wanting to complain about their care," Dr Greaves said.
Data for the study were provided by NHS Choices but the research was conducted independently of the NHS, with no specific funding for the project.
Journal reference: F Greaves et al. 'Associations between web-based patient ratings and objective measures of hospital quality.' Archives of Internal Medicine, 13 February 2012.
About Imperial College London
Consistently rated amongst the world's best universities, Imperial College London is a science-based institution with a reputation for excellence in teaching and research that attracts 14,000 students and 6,000 staff of the highest international quality. Innovative research at the College explores the interface between science, medicine, engineering and business, delivering practical solutions that improve quality of life and the environment - underpinned by a dynamic enterprise culture.
Since its foundation in 1907, Imperial's contributions to society have included the discovery of penicillin, the development of holography and the foundations of fibre optics. This commitment to the application of research for the benefit of all continues today, with current focuses including interdisciplinary collaborations to improve global health, tackle climate change, develop sustainable sources of energy and address security challenges.
In 2007, Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust formed the UK's first Academic Health Science Centre. This unique partnership aims to improve the quality of life of patients and populations by taking new discoveries and translating them into new therapies as quickly as possible.