Half of complaints about hospitals concern poor communication and attitude

The main complaints about hospitals in England last year that were escalated to the health service ombudsman concerned poor clinical care and treatment, poor communication, and errors in diagnosis.

In 2014-15 the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman received 8853 inquiries about acute trusts, up from 8178 in 2013-14, says a new report.1 The ombudsman makes final decisions on complaints that have not been resolved locally by the NHS in England.

Last year it completed 1652 investigations about acute trusts, up from 852 in 2013-14, largely because of …