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Pity the poor NHS – constantly overstretched, currently the subject of imminent (and ominous sounding) 'reshaping', it now has the dubious honour of having encountered a record year for cutomer complaints.
According to a flurry of news reports this week, the NHS complaints break down to show that over 44% were about clinical treatment.
The problem with statistics, of course, is that they are a pretty blunt instrument for excising facts from the reality of a situation. While the rise in complaints isn't acceptable, it has to be borne in mind that until a more transparent feedback process is put in place, all these figures show is a generalised vibe of dissatisfaction, including 12% of complaints centring on the "attitude" of staff.
In my experience "attitude" is a nebulous, amorphous concept, and the object of the complaint may not actually have done anything wrong.
On the more serious side, if there is an identifiable complaint arising from medical procedure, it needs to be listened to.
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