Primary care written complaints guidance notes KO41b – GP collection

The information obtained from the KO41b collection monitors written complaints received by the providers of NHS primary care services during each financial year. This information is made available through an annual publication.

This collection refers to complaints received between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026. It is a statutory requirement to declare complaints information as detailed in the 2009 complaints regulations. The data submission window will be open to providers from 1 June 2026 to 21 August 2026. 

The KO41b collects complaints information from dental and GP practices and is carried out by three organisations:

GP — information on complaints to GP practices is collected by NHS England using the Strategic Data Collection System (SDCS), a secure online data collection system. 

Dental — Information on complaints to dental practices is collected by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHS BSA) using a purpose-built web tool.

ICBs — Following the introduction of ICBs, they are now responsible for collecting and submitting complaints made directly to them about the primary care services they commission. This was previously the responsibility of NHS England.

This guidance is specifically for GP practices and includes guidance on how to access the SDCS. This information will be compiled for publication in late 2026.

For any problems or issues with the SDCS tool please contact the NHS England data collection team at: [email protected].

For any enquiries regarding data definitions please contact NHS England at [email protected].