Complaints at Lothian hospitals fall to record low

Published on Monday 5 October 2009 09:55

COMPLAINTS made to Lothians hospitals fell to a record low last year. Just over 1,000 people made formal gripes to health bosses, a significant drop from recent years.

The majority of complaints were made in acute hospitals and related to standard of treatment received and attitude or behaviour of staff.

Although it works out to be around three a day from patients – or people acting on their behalf – considering the thousands of people who go through hospital doors every week it is a very small proportion.

However, patient watchdogs said a large number of dissatisfied patients had no faith in the complaints process, and could not face the inevitable lengthy ordeal.

NHS Lothian's chief executive, James Barbour, said not only were complaints down, but efforts were being made to improve the time in which each one was addressed.

"It is pleasing to see a continued downward trend in the number of complaints, and also that we are continuing to improve our complaints response time," he said.

"We are committed to investigating, responding to and acting on complaints effectively, appropriately and in a timely manner.

"All the comments we receive through the complaints service are valued and used constructively."

There were a total of 1,178 complaints raised, compared with 1,309 the previous year. In 1998 the figure was 1,617.

Prof Barbour added: "Negative feedback is extremely important and enables us to resolve issues and make improvements so we can meet and exceed expectations. Positive feedback helps us to identify areas which are achieving good results and allows us to build on our success."

NHS Lothian received the second highest number of complaints in the country, according to the figures released by ISD Scotland – the official publisher of health statistics in Scotland.

That is by virtue of being the second largest health board, and by head of population the numbers are fairly equal.

Director of the Scotland Patients Association Dr Jean Turner said: "On the face of it complaints are down and that is to be welcomed, but the fact is there are a lot of people out there who are let down and feel they have no way of addressing it. Some don't have faith in the complaints system, while others aren't sure of how to go about it."