London
British cardiologists said this week that they would fight a plan to publish the patient mortality rates of individual heart surgeons. Hospitals, citing the recently passed Freedom of Information Act, say they will soon start disclosing how many patients each surgeon has lost. But the Society of Cardiothoracic Surgeons said patient mortality rates could be misleading, because the best surgeons frequently take on the most challenging operations. The group warned that surgeons could soon start shying away from difficult cases. “The last thing we want to happen,” said Bruce Keogh, president-elect of the surgeons group, “is for surgeons to turn down certain operations to preserve their record.”
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Political cartoons for October 26Cartoons Sunday’s editorial cartoons include Young Republicans group chat, Louvre robbery, and more
-
Why Britain is struggling to stop the ransomware cyberattacksThe Explainer New business models have greatly lowered barriers to entry for criminal hackers
-
Greene’s rebellion: a Maga hardliner turns against TrumpIn the Spotlight The Georgia congresswoman’s independent streak has ‘not gone unnoticed’ by the president
