Aggrieved but unlikely to complain about NHS & public service care

Charlie Cooper writes in The Independent – Only one in three people who are unhappy with their NHS care or with other public services actually complain, according to a survey conducted by the ombudsman.

The research found that while 90 per cent believe that people who think they have had a poor service should complain, in practice few do.

Reasons for not complaining included fears that it would be “more hassle than it was worth”, not knowing who to turn to, and concerns that the complaint would not be taken seriously. But the most common reason was that people doubted it would make a deference.

The findings, from a survey of 4,623 people conducted by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, were echoed by a second report, from patient advocacy group Healthwatch England, which found that only 21 per cent of NHS patients who have a poor care experience write a letter of complaint.

Ana Bradley, chair of Healthwatch England said the group estimated 2,000 incidents of poor care were occurring every day across the country’s health and social care system.

“Hearing of incidents of poor care is bad enough without the knowledge there’s an unhealthy undercurrent flowing “