We resolved 399 complaints through intervention in 2011-12. Two of these involved the NHS Business Services Authority which works at a national level and so these are not included in the figures shown above. To account for the difference in population in each region, the figures in brackets show the number of interventions per 100,000 inhabitants. This is worked out using the Office of National Statistics’ 2009 mid-year population estimates.
Top health organisations, ranked by interventions
For 14 organisations there were 4 interventions, generating a list of 20 organisations overall.
Volume of complaints can provide an early warning of failures in service delivery, but a high number of complaints does not necessarily mean poor performance. It could mean that information provided by organisations about how to make a complaint is good. Many other factors can affect the volume of complaints, including the size of the organisation and the size and make-up of the population it serves.