Skip to main content
Creating a new NHS England: NHS England and NHS Digital merged on 1 February 2023. More about the merger.

Publication, Part of

Data on Written Complaints in the NHS, 2020-21

National statistics

Publication Date:
17 Feb 2022
Geographic Coverage:
England
Geographical Granularity:
Ambulance Trusts, Care Trusts, Clinical Commissioning Groups, Hospital and Community Health Services, Hospital Trusts, Hospital Sites, Independent Sector Health Care Providers, Mental Health Trusts, NHS Trusts, GP practices, Regions, Dental practices
Date Range:
01 Apr 2010 to 31 Mar 2021
National Statistics

Current Chapter

Data on Written Complaints in the NHS, 2020-21

View all

Next Chapter

Introduction
Page contents

Summary

This publication shows a count of written complaints made by (or on behalf of) patients, received between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021 in England. The two data collections are: i) KO41a – NHS Hospital and Community Health Service (HCHS) ii) KO41b – Primary Care (GP and Dental)

Key Facts

All NHS Written Complaints: (Hospital and Community Health Services and Primary Care)

  • The total number of all reported written complaints in 2020-21 was 170,013.
  • This was equivalent to 300.6 complaints per 100,000 head of population.
  • The proportion of complaints being fully upheld are 33.8% for primary care and 26.8% for HCHS.

 

Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS)

  • The total number of all HCHS written complaints was 83,899 in 2020-21, a decrease of 29,342 (25.9%) from 2019-20.
  • There were 151,673 subject areas recorded against these 83,899 complaints.
  • Clinical treatment accounted for 40,854 (26.9%) of these.
  • The largest proportion of complaints received by individual subject area (including clinical treatment) was Communications with 18.0% followed by Patient Care including Nutrition / Hydration at 12.1% and then Values and Behaviour at 10.6%.
  • There were 121,876 recorded against the profession1 of the individual highlighted in the complaint. The largest proportion was attributed to medical staff with 39.9% then nursing staff at 25.5%.

 

Primary Care (GP and Dental)

  • The total number of primary care written complaints in 2020-21 was 86,114.
  • A third of all complaints (33.8%) were upheld in 2020-21. Almost half (49.6%) were not upheld with the remainder (16.6%) being partially upheld.
  • There were 94,160 subject areas1 recorded against all complaints, with 16.5% of these relating to Clinical Treatment, 13.5% relating to Communications and 12.4% relating to Staff Attitude/Behaviours/Values.

Of new complaints to:

  • GP practices - the most common causes for complaint are; Clinical Treatment (13.8%), Communications (13.7%) and Staff Attitude/Behaviour/Values (13.4%).
  • Dental practices - over a quarter relate to Clinical Treatment (26.4%), followed by Appointment Availability/Length (12.7%) and Communications (12.1%).
  • NHS England - over a third relate to Clinical Treatment (36.8%), followed by Communications (12.6%) and Care Planning (8.4%).

 

  • There were 87,196 Staff Groups1 recorded against all complaints with the largest proportion (36.0%) relating to Practitioners (GPs or Dentists) followed by Administrative staff (including Receptionists) with 25.8%.
 

 

1 A complaint can cover multiple Subject Areas, and Staff Groups.

 

Last edited: 30 March 2022 2:28 pm