Patients are now able to see the success rates of their surgeons following the publication of performance league tables.

The move, dubbed a “world first”, will allow patients at Medway Maritime Hospital, Gillingham, to see the number of times their consultant has carried out a procedure, their mortality rates and whether or not they are performing within the “expected range”.

Initially, data will be available across 10 specialities, but it is expected it will be introduced for all surgical consultants.

So far six of the 10 specialities have been published – three of which feature medics at Medway Maritime Hospital.

They are vascular surgery (surgery on veins and arteries), thyroid and endocrine surgery (surgery on hormone producing glands) and orthopaedic surgery (surgery for conditions affecting bones and muscles).

The tables show that all of Medway’s surgeons listed are performing within the expected range, with the highest mortality being just under 10%.

The tables, central to government plans for a more transparent health service, aim to show patients how well consultants across England perform against each other. The move aims to “shine a light on variation and unacceptable practice”.

But the NHS watchdog, the Patients’ Association, said the information needs to be presented in a “meaningful, easily accessible” way to be beneficial to patients.

Currently the information does not allow users to easily compare one surgeon with another.

Katherine Murphy, chief executive of the association, said: “On the face of it, access to this kind of information will reassure patients.

"However, we are still some way from easily comparable data which will truly enable them to make informed choices.”

Data on urological surgery (surgery on the kidneys, bladder and urinary tract) will be next to be published, followed by colorectal surgery (bowel surgery), upper gastrointestinal surgery (surgery on the stomach and intestine) and head and neck cancer surgery this autumn.

• To see how Medway's surgeons rated, see the Medway Messenger today