If your GP has referred you to an NHS surgeon, it’s perfectly normal to have questions about their background. Typically, these include: How many procedures have they performed? What are their success rates? And crucially, can I actually find this information out for myself?
The short answer to the latter is: yes, you can do your own research. But the process isn’t straightforward, and not all patients know where to look. After the Marc Lamah case exposed how a surgeon could lose private practice privileges yet continue working in the NHS, there’s every chance that more patients will ask this question before surgery. Here, we explain the importance of transparency in healthcare, and the steps you can take to get a clearer picture of past surgical outcomes.
Where to Check Your NHS Surgeon's Performance
The GMC Register
This is your recommended starting point. The General Medical Council (GMC) maintains a public register of all doctors licensed to practise in the UK. You can search your surgeon’s name at: https://www.gmc-uk.org/registration-and-licensing/our-registers.
This register shows:
- Whether they’re fully registered and licensed to practise.
- Any restrictions on their practise (such as the private practice bans mentioned earlier).
- Any investigations or disciplinary actions.
- Whether they’ve had complaints upheld against them.
This single source tells you immediately if there are red flags. It doesn’t provide complete oversight — some cases are confidential — but it’s a reliable starting point for most patients.
Speciality-Specific National Audits
Some surgical specialities publish detailed performance data. Colorectal surgery, for example, has the National Bowel Cancer Audit, which tracks outcomes for bowel cancer procedures. Audits like this show complication rates, mortality rates, and re-operation rates by hospital, and sometimes by individual surgeon.
Check whether your surgeon’s speciality has a national audit. Alternatively, your hospital should be able to tell you, or you can search the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) website.
The NHS Choices Website and Hospital Data
NHS Choice publishes data on individual hospitals and their performance ratings. You can search for your local hospital and see patient ratings and feedback.
While this doesn’t show individual surgeon success rates, it does show the hospital’s overall reputation and quality ratings from the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
Hospital Episode Statistics (HES)
HES is the UK’s official source for detailed hospital data. It collects information on every patient admitted to an NHS hospital, including procedures and outcomes.
The data is publicly available but requires navigation. You can view mortality rates, infection rates, and complication rates by hospital, although finding individual surgeon success rates can be difficult, as the data is usually presented at hospital — rather than consultant — level.
Your Local Integrated Care Board (ICB)
Your ICB oversees NHS services in your area and holds consultant performance information. You can request this data formally if informal requests don’t work.
Ask Directly
Before surgery, ask your NHS consultant: How many times have you performed this procedure? What are your complication rates? What do patient outcomes look like? A confident, transparent surgeon should be happy to answer these questions.
The Fragmented Picture: Why Information Isn't Centralised
Frustratingly, the reality is that there is no single place where you can find complete information about your NHS consultant’s performance. The GMC register shows licensing and restrictions, national audits show some speciality-specific outcomes, and hospital data shows aggregate statistics. But no system brings it all together.
This fragmentation means patients often face uncertainty when trying to evaluate their surgeon’s record. It’s why the Marc Lamah case was so revealing; a surgeon could lose private practice privileges while continuing in the NHS because the systems are distinct and may not talk to each other. Currently, the onus appears to be on the patient to piece the full picture together.
Complaints and Whistleblower Reports
If a surgeon has faced complaints or concerns, this information exists somewhere, but it’s not always easy to find or interpret.
- Formal Complaints: The NHS records and investigates these, but the outcomes aren’t automatically public. You can ask your hospital for information about complaints against specific consultants, though they may decline to answer due to confidentiality restrictions.
- Whistleblower Reports: Staff will sometimes highlight serious concerns about a surgeon’s practice. These situations are taken seriously and investigated by the GMC and NHS but, again, the details often remain confidential. If you suspect something has gone wrong with your care, staff concerns may already exist on file, which could strengthen your position if you eventually pursue a complaint or claim.
- CQC Inspection Reports: These often mention concerns about specific departments or consultants, and are publicly available.
The key: if something feels wrong, it may not be the first time concerns have been raised.
Understanding Surgical Outcomes
When you do find surgical outcome data, knowing how to interpret it matters. Here’s what the numbers actually mean.
- Mortality Rates: These numbers show how many patients died following a specific procedure. Lower is obviously better, but context matters. A surgeon performing high-risk procedures on very unwell patients may have higher mortality rates than someone operating on more straightforward cases. It’s important not to compare raw numbers without first understanding the complexity of cases being treated.
- Complication Rates: Complications are essentially how often things go wrong during or after surgery, including infections, bleeding, or other problems. Again, lower is better, but some variation can be expected. What matters is whether a surgeon’s rates are significantly higher than the national average.
- Re-operation Rates: This metric indicates how often patients need a second operation to fix problems relating to the first. This is a valuable figure because it’s seen by many as being directly linked to surgical competence.
Patient Satisfaction Scores: These tell you whether people felt heard, cared for, and informed. Stats like this matter because good communication is generally a positive indicator in healthcare.
What About Private Practice Bans?
This brings us back to the Marc Lamah case. How do you find out if an NHS consultant has been banned from private practice?
The short answer is: it’s not easy. The GMC (General Medical Council) holds a public register of all doctors, and you can search for disciplinary actions. However, private practice bans aren’t always clearly flagged. You have to dig into the detailed case information. Even then, some cases will remain confidential.
If a surgeon has lost private practice privileges due to patient safety concerns, that’s significant information. It suggests their performance hasn’t met the standards required by private hospitals (which face different regulatory pressures and legal liability). Yet they continue in the NHS with potentially fewer checks.
This inconsistency is part of why patient awareness matters. By asking the right questions and checking available data, you’re prioritising your own safety and holding the system accountable.
Your Right to Information
Under the Data Protection Act and the Freedom of Information Act, you have rights to access information about NHS services and your own care. If you want specific data about your consultant’s performance, you can:
- Request it Informally: Ask your hospital’s patient relations team or your consultant directly. Most will provide basic information willingly.
- Make a Formal Freedom of Information Request: You can do this if informal requests don’t work. The NHS is obligated to respond within 20 working days.
- Ask the Care Quality Commission (CQC). This independent regulator inspects NHS services and publishes detailed reports. Their website has information about specific hospitals and their quality ratings.
What if You're Still Concerned?
If you discover concerning information about your surgeon — or if you’ve already had surgery that went wrong — you do have options.
First, you can raise concerns with your hospital’s complaints department. You can also report issues to the GMC. Finally, if you believe you have suffered harm due to negligent surgery, you may have grounds for a medical negligence claim. This means you could be entitled to comprehensive support for your injuries, loss of earnings, and pain and suffering.
The key is acting promptly. There are time limits for bringing claims, so if you suspect something went wrong, it’s advisable to seek legal advice early.
Taking Control of Your Care
The Marc Lamah case demonstrates that transparency gaps do seem to exist in the NHS. Patients can’t always see the full picture about who’s treating them but, by asking questions, checking available data, and understanding your rights, you can take some control over your own care.
Before your surgery, it’s important to do your homework. Check your NHS consultant’s performance, ask direct questions, and request information. A good surgeon will understand and answer these enquiries. And if something does go wrong, remember that you have rights and options.
If you believe you’ve already been a victim of surgical negligence, CL Medilaw can help. Our experienced team has a proven track record of supporting patients harmed by their treatment and is ready to help you.
Contact us today for a free, confidential consultation about your case.
