The NHS received almost 175,000 written complaints last year, rising 4.6 per cent in hospital and community services from the year before, data from the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) has revealed.

Patients submitted roughly 3,300 written complaints a week or 479 a day, showed the data, released yesterday (August 28).

GPs and dentists received 60,600 complaints, accounting for 35 per cent of the total number in 2013-14. This was a rise on the year before, but the HSCIC stressed that the figures were not comparable due to a change in the data collection method.

Written complaints about pharmacists appeared much lower. Although there were no specific figures for pharmacies, they formed part of the "other community services" group, which only accounted for 6,292 complaints. This equated to under 4 per cent of the total complaints received.

Doctors excluding GPs were the profession that attracted the most complaints, accounting for 46 per cent of the total. The service area with the most complaints was inpatient hospital acute services, which attracted 30 per cent of the total.

In February, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) told C+D the number of complaints about pharmacies was increasing and had hit a new high of 928 in 2013. At the time, GPhC chief executive Duncan Rudkin said he was keen to understand the reason behind the rise, which was mainly fuelled by patients.  

	Have you noticed a change in patient complaints this year?