§ Mr. MilburnTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patient complaints have been received in each of the last five years by region.
Hospital Complaints 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 Northern 1,546 1,750 2,083 2,627 2,758 Yorkshire 2,015 2,233 2,384 2,779 3,939 Trent 2,398 2,970 2,772 3,772 4,303 East Anglian 1,105 1,207 1,504 1,877 2,536 North West Thames 2,626 3,348 3,534 4,505 4,694 North East Thames 4,121 4,351 4,207 6,055 8,505 South East Thames 3,076 2,257 2,515 5,472 5,243 South West Thames 2,953 3,213 2,849 4,065 4,726 Wessex 1,846 2,109 2,063 3,026 3,276 Oxford 1,371 1,477 1,822 1,728 3,182 South Western 1,617 2,064 2,248 2,532 4,877 West Midlands 3,241 3,894 3,859 5,105 'N/A Mersey 1,803 1,654 1,507 2,307 3,661 North Western 3,032 3,054 3,234 4,475 5,381 Special Health Authorities 546 600 769 805 7'73 Source: K040 returns. 1 No return was submitted. The increase in complaints recorded can be attributed to the increase in patient awareness and confidence due to the patients charter.