Publication, Part of Data on Written Complaints in the NHS
Data on Written Complaints in the NHS, 2021-22 Quarter 3 and Quarter 4
National statistics, Accredited official statistics
Review of the frequency of the KO41a secondary care complaints collection and publication
Considering the organisational restructure taking place across the NHS in 2022-23 and other factors affecting the return, we are currently reviewing the collection and publication cycle of the KO41a for the 2022-23 year. Primarily, we are looking to move to a single, annual collection and publication. We will be engaging with users to fully understand the impact of any suggested changes. If you would like to engage with us as we conduct this review, please contact us at [email protected]. Users will be notified of changes as soon as possible after the review has been completed.
7 July 2022 09:30 AM
Introduction
This quarterly publication is a count of written complaints made by or on behalf of patients. These data are for complaints about NHS Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS) in England and are collected via the KO41a form.
The NHS complaints procedure is a statutorily based mechanism for dealing with complaints about NHS care and treatment. All NHS organisations in England are required to operate the procedure according to the complaints arrangements introduced in April 2009. Although the 2009 regulations apply to complaints about both adult social care and the NHS, these data only cover NHS complaints.
This is the latest publication of the quarterly NHS written complaints collection. Prior to 2015-16 complaints data were published annually (1997-98 to 2014-15).
Revisions and Issues
There are no revisions this quarter.
There are also the following two issues to note:
- Ongoing impact of Covid-19
NHS provider organisations were still dealing the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic during Q3 and Q4 of 2021-22. Whilst we are unable to accurately quantify the effect of this on complaints levels, it can be seen from the data that numbers of recorded complaints are approaching pre-pandemic levels.
KO41a – The 2021-22 Q3 and Q4 data are both included in this single publication. Historically, they have been collected and published separately but have been combined to minimise the burden on providers.
- Consultation and review of NHS Digital complaints collections
To ensure complaints collections are delivering maximum value for minimum burden on NHS organisations, NHS Digital periodically run consultation exercises to assess the use, data quality, availability of data sources and resources needed to produce the publications. This raises potential for the publications to be revised, reduced in frequency, or discontinued.
Further Information
NHS Digital welcomes comments on this publication to inform future reports. Please contact us with comments and suggestions stating ‘Data on Written Complaints’ as the subject via:
Email: [email protected] Tel: 0300 303 5678
Previous editions of the publication can be found on the NHS Digital website
Last edited: 6 July 2022 2:39 pm