The NHS Information Centre is contacting every GP practice in England to check the accuracy of data held about them on NHS Choices. The website’s own research has revealed that some of the information is wrong.
The massive data checking exercise has been initiated because primary care trusts are planning to distribute literature to English households, setting out which practices are offering extended hours.
Gary Ashby, programme director for NHS Choices, has written to PCTs explaining that the data checking initiative would begin last week and continue for about four weeks in total.
Ashby said the household literature will direct the public to NHS Choices for full information on local GP services, so it is essential for the data on the website to be accurate.
“We know from our own research that in some instances this is not currently the case,” he added.
The Information Centre will check the accuracy of opening times, focusing particularly on any extended hours services that are being offered.
For those practices that do not manage their own data, NHS Choices will upload any changes after consulting with PCTs. Practices that manage their own data on the website will be ask to correct their details as soon as possible.
NHS Choices was criticised by GPs shortly after in launch in 2007. Practices claimed some of the GP information held on the site was as much as six years out of date. The website later introduced functionality to enable practices to manage their own data on the site.