BETSI Cadwaladr is still the most complained about health board in Wales, despite fewer complaints being made this year than the previous year.

Complaints made to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales about Welsh NHS bodies hit a record high last year, new figures show.

The Ombudsman’s Annual Report and Accounts for 2017/18 reveal that complaints against NHS bodies (which include Health Boards and Trusts, GPs and dentists) increased by seven per cent on the previous year – rising from 863 to 927. About 20 per cent of those complaints were levelled at the North Wales health board.

Complaints about health boards rose 11 per cent, with large increases in complaints received about Abertawe Bro Morgannwg and Aneurin Bevan University Health Boards.

Whilst the number of complaints about Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board fell moderately by 3 per cent, it still generated 186 complaints, the highest number of any health board in Wales.

There were small reductions in the number of complaints about other NHS bodies such as GPs and dentists.

In total, the Ombudsman received 2,253 complaints, two per cent fewer than in the previous year. This decrease is largely attributed to a 10 per cent reduction in complaints about local authority services.

Complaints that local councillors had breached their code of conduct, however, increased by 14 per cent.

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