FEWER complaints against hospitals in the Bradford district have been upheld by the Health Ombudsman this year than in the 12 months earlier, a new report has revealed.

Despite the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman receiving 58 inquiries, 17 more than last year, about Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - only six of those inquiries were accepted for investigation and out of them, only three were either fully or partly upheld.

In the case of Airedale NHS Foundation Trust, 12 inquiries were received in all, only one more than the previous year. Six of them were accepted for investigation and one was partly or fully upheld.

Julie Mellor, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, said: ‘We know that there are many factors that influence the number of complaints hospitals receive, such as organisational size, demographics and whether they actively encourage feedback from patients.

"I strongly believe that NHS leaders should welcome feedback from patients and recognise the opportunities that good complaint handling offers to improve the services they provide. We are publishing this data to help hospital trusts identify problems and take action to ensure trust in the healthcare system remains high.’

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All patients have the right to take their unresolved complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman if they are not satisfied with the way their complaint has been dealt with by the NHS.

A Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust spokesman said it welcomed comments from patients as it helped to improve services.

"As a Trust we welcome feedback, whether good or bad, as this enables us to identify areas where improvements in our services can be made and to ensure that learning is shared.

"We always aim to work with complainants and meet with them, where possible, to resolve any concerns at the time. We achieve this through our matrons or through our Patient Advice and Liaison Services (PALS).

"In a small proportion of cases we are unable to resolve the complainant’s concerns and we encourage them to request an independent review from the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman (PHSO).

"Every complaint received by the Trust is thoroughly investigated, and a written response is provided.

"We also include details of any action plans that we have created as a result of our learning. Every response is reviewed and signed off by the chief executive, or an executive director in his absence."

Rob Dearden, director of nursing at Airedale NHS Foundation Trust said: "The Trust takes complaints extremely seriously and carries out detailed investigations into each one.

"We are committed to learning how we can improve and we incorporate learning from patient complaints into our staff training and monitor this using a number of methods including the Friends and Family Test, real time inpatient surveys and via our Patient and Advice Liaison Service.

"We are always looking at ways we can improve our openness and levels of customer care when dealing with people’s complaints and as well as aiming to resolve concerns locally at the earliest opportunity, wherever possible."