North East healthcare providers received the second highest number of complaints in the country over the past year, it can be revealed.

A total of 6,358 complaints were made to health providers across the North East and Cumbria in 2023-2024, NHS data has revealed - a 47% increase on the year before.

The complaints can range from being for end-of-life care, hygiene, and misdiagnosis to waiting times and more in hospitals, GPs, dentists, and others.

Of all the complaints made, 25% were fully upheld, while 39% were partially upheld. The remainder were dismissed.

Complaints are usually handled by individual providers who are overseen by The North East Integrated Care Board (ICB).

This puts the region second in the whole of the UK for the total number of complaints - beaten only by Greater Manchester which received 8,513. 

Take a look at our graph below for the number of complaints received by area:

Louise Ansari, chief executive of Healthwatch England said the figures were unsurprising, with problems accessing GPs and dentists among the most frequent issues patients contact them about – but she warned the true scale of the problem may be even greater.

She said: "There are major gaps in the figures with no national data showing what type of people are most likely to make a complaint, how long people wait for services to investigate their case, and how satisfied they are with the response they receive."

"Patients appreciate the pressures health and care services are under. However, the public deserves a complaints system that is easy to navigate, timely, empathetic, and used by services as a genuine opportunity to listen and put things right to prevent poor care in the future."

Dan Wellings, senior fellow at the King's Fund, added the figures "reflect the rising frustration that people have over many aspects of NHS care right now".

He said basic communication is lacking, such as receiving timely appointment letters and test results.

He added: "Public satisfaction with the NHS is at a record low, and it will be a long journey to recover it. Improving how the NHS communicates with those it serves will be a key part of that recovery.

"As the Government embarks on its health service reforms, this needs to be front and centre."

When approached for a comment, a spokesperson for NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB) emphasised the importance of feedback and say they are "committed" to learning from it.

"Patient feedback is crucial in planning and delivering the services that we commission for patients across the North East and North Cumbria.

"As the North East and North Cumbria is largest ICB area in the country, we would expect the total number of complaints handled by all our local NHS providers to be higher than other ICB areas.

"We are committed to learning from all forms of patient feedback to drive up quality in our health services. 

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"That feedback has been crucial in how we have developed our Quality and Safety Strategy, which focuses on working closely with our providers to improve patient experience across the range of services that we commission."

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson added: "We inherited a broken NHS that has been failing patients and staff for too long. We will listen to patient concerns and be honest about the challenges we face as we take key steps to reforming the health service.

"Our 10-Year Health Plan will deliver the radical change needed to get the NHS back on its feet and build a health service that is fit for the future."