Spotted a new site called www.iwantgreatcare.org, which is launched this week. It will let patients rate and review every medic who has treated them. Patients are asked whether they would trust the doctor, did they listen and would you recommend them, using ratings 1-100.

Doctors are up in arms about it. The BMA say “There’s a significant possibility of it being used in a malicious way, leading to doctors finding themselves under incredible stress, leaving themselves open to potential abuse”.

I think it’s a really interesting idea. Doctors have never had to worry too much about what patients think about them, except in cases of extreme negligence, which result in weighty compensation claims or worse! Brands, politicians, journalists, governments, pop stars, i.e. anyone who holds any kind of position in society, are waking up to the fact that people want to talk to them/be spoken to in a different way. Doctors are no exception to that.

There’s always a reservation about people acting in a malicious way but thankfully decent moderation and the wisdom of the crowd tends to police that very effectively, just like in a proper community.