DESPITE nearly half a million patients passing through the doors of Great Western Hospital every year, the number of complaints made against staff remains low.

A Freedom of Information request has revealed that in 2010, just 19 complaints were made against GWH NHS Foundation Trust staff.

And, although this has increased from 12 in 2009 and 13 in 2008, staff are pleased with the figures, which equate to 0.005 percent of patients.

A GWH spokesman said: “The trust sees, treats and admits over 400,000 people each year, therefore the number of complaints about staff is very small.

“Our staff work hard to provide the best care to patients and we encourage patients to provide feedback about their experience, whether it is something we have done well or something we could have done better.

“Sometimes we don’t do as well as we could do and in these instances we investigate any complaint and provide a personal reply from the chief executive.

“It’s important in these situations that we understand what caused the complaint in the first place, how we can put things right for the person concerned and how we can try to prevent a similar issue for other patients.”

The number of staff suspended and/or sacked for misconduct at the hospital in 2010 was halved from the previous year, from six to three.

However, there is no link between the complaints database and personnel records, so the spokesman could not confirm how many staff were suspended and/or sacked following a complaint.

“We want patients to feel they not only get the best clinical care but also the best service from us,” said the spokesman.

“We have 3,300 dedicated staff working at the hospital and it’s thanks to their good work that the number of complaints we receive is a very small percentage of the overall number of patient contacts we have and we will continue to look for ways we can further improve what we do so patients remain satisfied with their experience.”

Nationally, the number of written complaints about NHS hospitals and community health services in England is at a record high.

Between 2008/09 and 2009/10, the number of official complaints rose from 89,139 to 101,077 – a 13.4 per cent rise and the biggest year-on-year increase since 1997/98.