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, 2021-22 Quarter 1 and Quarter 2

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 2015 to 30 Sep 2021
National Statistics

Current Chapter

Data on Written Complaints in the NHS, 2021-22 Quarter 1 and Quarter 2

View all

Next Chapter

Introduction
Page contents

Summary

This quarterly publication is a count of written complaints made by or on behalf of patients about NHS Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS) in England. They are collected via the KO41a form.

Key Facts

For the period 1 April – 30 June 2021 (2021-22 Q1):

  • There were 26,341 new HCHS written complaints compared to 23,109 in 2020-21 Q4.
  • During the period 23,080 complaints were resolved, of these 6,151 (26.7%) were upheld, 8,417 (36.5%) were partially upheld and 8,512 (36.9%) were not upheld.

For the 26,341 new complaints made:

  • There were 47,392 complaints by subject area1, of which 25.3% (11,976) were complaints about clinical treatment. The largest proportion by all subject areas were about communication with 18.6% (8,804) then patient care including nutrition/hydration at 12.1% (5,726).
  • There were 37,088 complaints by profession1. The largest proportion was attributed to medical staff with 40.2% (14,895) followed by nursing staff at 23.3% (8,629).

 

For the period 1 July – 30 September 2021 (2021-22 Q2):

  • There were 27,994 new HCHS written complaints compared to 26,341 in 2021-22 Q1.
  • During the period 24,739 complaints were resolved, of these 6,698 (27.1%) were upheld, 9,017 (36.4%) were partially upheld and 9,024 (36.5%) were not upheld.

For the 27,994 new complaints made:

  • There were 50,302 complaints by subject area1, of which 25.5% (12,807) were complaints about clinical treatment. The largest proportion by all subject areas were about communication with 17.3% (8,698) then patient care including nutrition/hydration at 12.6% (6,330).
  • There were 39,150 complaints by profession1. The largest proportion was attributed to medical staff with 39.1% (15,292) followed by nursing staff at 22.7% (8,877).

 

1 A written complaint can cover multiple subjects, service and professional areas. Therefore, the total complaints by subject, service and profession can be greater than the number of new complaints.

Last edited: 30 March 2022 2:32 pm