WRITTEN complaints to the NHS trust in charge of Airedale Hospital have risen by more than 40 per cent over the past year, new figures have revealed.

Data released by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) shows that Airedale NHS Foundation Trust received 103 complaints in 2014/15, up from 73 the previous year, an increase of 41 per cent.

Acute services received by inpatients at the hospital attracted the most complaints with 48, with a further 20 criticising its accident and emergency department, and 14 complaining about geriatric care.

The trust responded by stating that only nine per cent of the claims were ultimately upheld, but Healthwatch England, the national health and social care patient watchdog, said only a fifth of people who had experienced poor care tended to complain in writing.

In response to the figures, Elaine Andrews, assistant director for patient safety at Airedale NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Out of 103 complaints we received in 2014/15, nine per cent were upheld.

“Only 0.53 per cent of people who used our services or experienced care during 2014/15 had cause to contact either the complaints service or patient, advice and liaison service with issues or concerns affecting them, and this percentage includes the number of formal complaints to the trust.

“This is a decrease on the 0.58 per cent from 2013/14 despite the increase in patient activity.

“This increase in activity, besides people having a better knowledge of the complaint process following publication of the Francis report, is likely to have added to the rise in complaints we have seen this year.”

Official complaints against Bradford District Care Trust, which runs the mental health centre in the grounds of Airedale Hospital, rose 28 per cent from 80 in 2013/14 to 102 this year, with a 39 per cent increase in the number of upheld complaints, from 33 to 46.

Nicola Lees, deputy chief executive and director of nursing at the trust, said: “We always encourage patients, service users and carers to tell us when they are not happy. Of the 102 complaints we received, five were withdrawn or resolved locally by managers, and 25 involved services provided by other organisations as well as our own, which we have counted in our figures. Often there are several elements to a person’s complaint. When one element is found not to be meeting the high standards we set we will uphold the complaint.”