The NHS received a record number of written complaints last year.
There were 241,922 such gripes lodged in 2023/24, including those about access to treatment, prescription errors and poor facilities.
That was up from 229,458 in the previous 12 months, according to NHS England.
Fewer than a third of all complaints (29.4 per cent) were upheld last year, down from 30.1 per cent.
An NHS England spokesman said: ‘The NHS is listening to patients and taking action to tackle the issues that matter most to them, including better support for those with long-term conditions and making it easier to contact their GP.’
The NHS has received a record number of complaints in the last year with 241,922 grievances lodged over the past 12 months
The influx of gripes comes amid reports that some GPs are turning to AI programs such as ChatGPT to respond to them
It comes amid reports that GPs are using AI programs such as ChatGPT to draft responses to patient complaints.
A report by the Medical Defence Union (MDU) said that doctors have been ‘allured’ by the technology to make their jobs easier.
But the body warned that it could risk inaccuracies and handing over sensitive information to AI, as well as further irritating patients.
It said that GPs should be particularly concerned about AI providing ‘false apologies’ addressing a complaint in generic terms such as, ‘I am sorry you feel your care was poor’, rather than addressing specific points a patient raises.
