Watchdog issues warnings to hospitals that don't take patients seriously

The Healthcare Commission found that many grievances were simply ignored, and said it was particularly concerned that patients may even have received worse treatment after complaining.

The first audit of how complaints are managed found that standards across the country were "fragmented and inconsistent".

The investigation found some patients had their letters of complaint ignored while others waited months for an investigation to be launched.

And the commission said there was "little evidence" that trusts were systematically learning from complaints.

Most worryingly, nine out of 10 of the trusts did not score highly on ensuring patients felt confident their care would not suffer because they had complained.

The watchdog found a lack of systems to monitor whether care had changed in any way after a complaint was made.

Liberal Democrat health spokesman Norman Lamb said: 'Patients should feel free to complain without being scared that their care will suffer as a result.

'This report highlights the importance of NHS trusts treating patients with decency and respect, and being accountable to the people they serve.

"All too often complaints are 'processed' without the issue being fundamentally looked at. It is basic common sense that trusts should make sure that they take action to change their practices after legitimate complaints are made, but too many simply aren't doing this."

Every year, around 140,000 formal complaints are received about NHS care in England compared with the more than 380 million treatments provided by the health service.

The first step for patients who wish to complain is to contact the body providing the care, such as their GP surgery or the local primary care trust.

If the issue is not resolved to the patient's satisfaction, he or she has six months to take their complaint to the Healthcare Commission for independent review.

The body receives around 8,000 such requests each year, of which a third are sent back to the trust to be resolved.

The Commission inspected 42 trusts for the latest audit - 32 which it had concerns about and 10 it believed handled complaints well and could provide evidence of best practice.

It measured them against core standards including making the complaints system accessible to patients, learning from mistakes, and ensuring a patient's care is not compromised because they have made a complaint.

Of the 32 poor performing trusts, 12 were issued with a notification letter after significant relapse was noted, six were issued a notification letter after some risk was identified and 12 were told to make improvements.

Most were told to make their complaints handling mechanism more accessible.

Anna Walker, the commission's chief executive, said: "But when someone does complain, trusts need to respond well. Patients want complaints resolved quickly and locally.

"Trusts need to show they can respond to the individual's concern and learn as an organisation. If they do not, it could seriously damage people's faith in the NHS."

The Government wants to strip the commission of responsibility for dealing with individual complaints; devolving more responsibility to local trusts.

But Mrs Walker said her report raised questions about whether trusts were up to it.

Peter Walsh, chief executive of Action against Medical Accidents, said: "This audit is further evidence, as if we needed it, that the way many NHS organisations handle complaints adds insult to injury and there is an urgent need for improvement.

"The Government's proposals for reform offer some hope of a fresh new response which must be seized. However, we are concerned that the loss of important safeguards, such as having the right to an independent review of complaints by the Healthcare Commission, could leave many complainants with nowhere to go."

A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said the NHS received a 'tiny number' of complaints in relation to the number of treatments.

"But when patients do complain, their complaint should be handled quickly and effectively," she said. "This is something we expect every NHS organisation to take seriously."