More GP and dentist complaints across Nottinghamshire

Massive pressure has been put on the nation’s GP and dental surgeries since the start of the pandemic, which led to higher demand for medical services and backlogs building for appointments.

New data from NHS Digital shows 1,771 complaints were made about GPs and dentists in the former NHS Nottinghamshire clinical commissioning group area in the year to March, up 9 per cent from the 1,618 made in the year to March 2019.

Of last year’s complaints, 570, 32 per cent, were upheld, meaning the medical provider was ultimately found to be in the wrong, down from 2018-19, when 34 per cent were upheld.

An NHS Nottinghamshire spokeswoman said: “Nottinghamshire practices continue to work hard to improve the experience of patients and have put a number of extra roles in place to help alleviate pressures and patient waiting times, with more people providing patient care than ever before.

“We are incredibly proud of our GP colleagues who continue to work extremely hard during these pressurised times, where we are seeing more demand than ever on services.

“NHS Nottinghamshire continues to work with NHS England to provide support to practices through the access improvement programme to help reduce waiting times for appointments and improve patient experience.”

The Royal College of GPs, which represents the profession, said GPs were “doing their absolute best in exceptionally difficult circumstances”.

The British Medical Association, a trade union for medical staff, said it understands patients’ frustrations, but GP practices are currently facing “unbearable pressures”.

Across England, the most common reason for complaining about a GP surgery last year was communications, listed on 15 per cent of complaints, while for dentists, the largest proportion were about clinical treatment, at 24 per cent.

Separate NHS Digital figures show GPs carried out 32 million appointments in October, the highest monthly figure since November 2017, when records are first available.

An NHS England spokesman said: “While seven-out-of-10 patients report a good experience at their practice, the NHS is determined to make it easier to get an appointment, which is why we have recruited more than 21,200 additional staff since 2019 and improved practice telephone systems so people can speak to staff more quickly and easily.”