THE Health Service in the North-East recorded the fewest complaints per head of the population of any English region, according to a report.

The report – by Health Service Ombudsman Ann Abraham – describes the progress the NHS is making to improve the way it deals with patients complaints as “patchy and slow”.

Published today, “Listening and Learning: the Ombudsmans Review of Complaint Handling by the NHS in England 2010-11” reveals which NHS trusts and which regions in England generated the most complaints to the Ombudsman’s Office.

In the North-East, there were 471 complaints against NHS organisations in 2010-11, which works out as 18 per 100,000 people, half the figure for the London area, and the most complained about NHS region.

The most complained about NHS body in the North- East was the Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the Royal Victoria Infirmary and Freeman hospitals, in Newcastle.

The Newcastle trust recorded 51 complaints, all of them upheld.

The second highest number of complaints – 46 – was made against North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust. All of them were upheld.

The third highest number of complaints – 39 – was made against the City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust. Half of them were fully upheld and the other half were partly upheld.

The fourth highest number – 37 – were logged by the County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust.

All of them were upheld.

Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust recorded 25 complaints and South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust recorded 23 complaints.

Yorkshire and the Humber had a total of 1,222 complaints, but the rate is still only 23 per 100,000, compared with 37 per 100,000 in London.

The Scarborough and North East Yorkshire NHS Trust had 35 complaints, the highest number in North Yorkshire.

The York Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust logged 34 complaints, the second highest number in North Yorkshire.

In 2010-11, the Ombudsman received more than 15,000 complaints to her office, which represents the second and final stage in the NHS complaints system.

The report highlights an increased number of complaints about the removal of patients from their GP practices lists, raising concerns that as GPs prepare to take on greater responsibility for purchasing healthcare on behalf of patients some are failing to handle even the most basic complaints.