The NHS received 150,859 complaints in 2011-12; a rise of 1.3% on the year before.1
The NHS gets it right most of the time, but each complaint that is not fully addressed or investigated is a missed opportunity for the NHS to continue to improve, to pick up on possible systemic problems, and to reinforce the trust that we all place in the NHS to get our care and treatment right.
Last year we highlighted our concern that some GPs were failing to manage relationships with patients properly. This could lead to a breakdown in communication and patients being unfairly or hastily removed from their GPs’ list of registered patients.
Complaints to us about the NHS are increasing. The evidence from our case files suggests that much more needs to be done if good complaint handling is to become standard across the new health landscape. The need to listen and learn from complaints has never been greater.
