Government website NHS Choices has launched a web tool that allows people to compare the standards of care at different hospitals.

The new tool allows patients to compare hospitals on anything from mortality rates and infection control to quality of food and car parking, via an online scorecard.

The site - which works in a similar way to internet comparison websites - also allows patients to leave feedback on whether they felt involved in decisions around their care, and whether they would recommend the hospital to friends and family.

The overall aim of the NHS Choices website is to put patients in control of their healthcare, and supports the government’s patient choice initiatives.

Stephen Campion, chief executive of the HCSA, supports the move towards greater openness. “Statistics are always welcome but do not always present a reliable indicator of performance,” he said.

“Comparative data has to be used carefully, presented responsibly, and not taken in isolation of other relevant factors, to enable patients to take an informed and balanced choice.”

On the website, Stafford Hospital, for example, is rated as ‘weak’, with only 6 out of 14 patients saying they would recommend the hospital to a friend.

One of the most prominent patient comments says: “As a patient, I now feel that I cannot go to the staff at this hospital with any concerns that I may have regarding my pregnancy for fear of being made to feel, at best, foolish and, at worst, someone whose health and the health and well being of their unborn child does not matter.”

In contrast, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, was rated as ‘excellent’, with 14 out of 16 patients saying that they would recommend it to a friend.

One of the first reviews says: “I was made to feel welcome and was treated with dignity and respect by the staff in the Radiotherapy department. I was greeted each day as if I was the only patient they were treating.”

Mark Porter, deputy chairman of the BMA’s consultants committee, said: “I am in favour of open information and of more of this being published, but I am against summarising vast amounts of information and using a single measure to represent a hospital’s overall performance.”

Launching the service, health secretary Andy Burnham said it would help patients by bringing together all the information in one place.

“The new scorecard helps patients make the right choice of hospital for them by bringing together all the information in one place for the first time,” he said.

“The service also offers an unparalleled opportunity for hospitals to be made aware of any issues and act to improve their services, helping to drive up standards across the board, and become more patient focused.”

Hospital comparison is a precursor to a controversial GP ratings service, to be launched on NHS Choices this autumn. There are very few comments expressed on private hospitals in comparison to the NHS judgements.

Michael Summers, vice chairman of the Patients Association, said: “The more information that patients have about local availability of their healthcare and the standards that they are looking for, the better it is.”