Your supplement on information was both interesting and useful, and I was pleased to see the NHS Information Centre puts patients and the public at the centre of its lovely diagram.

I am not sure how this is consistent with some of the centre's practices. Some datasets are not available to patients or the public, and Martin Orton, the centre's "strategic adviser" (what is that exactly?) is quoted as wanting "ideas on clinical measures of quality, not for patient viewing".

As a patient, member of my local involvement network, and potential governor of my local NHS trust, I would like access to the data held by NHS Comparators. Without it I don't see how I can play an active part in commissioning decisions.

Martin Rathfelder, director, Socialist Health Association

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