THOUSANDS of complaints were received last year over issues at Hywel Dda and Betsi Cadwaladr Health Boards, new figures from the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales show.

Michelle Morris, the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales (PSOW), published for the first time the statistics on complaints handled by Welsh Health Boards and Trusts earlier this month.

The data shows that between April and September 2022 Welsh Health Boards and Trusts received more than 10,500 complaints, the equivalent of 6.84 complaints for every 1,000 residents of Wales.

Hywel Dda Health Board, which serves Ceredigion, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire, received a total of 1,269 complaints - 6.58 for every 1,000 residents in the region.

Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board which serves Gwynedd received 1,786 complaints about over the same six month period - 5.11 complaints for every 1,000 residents.

The data collected by PSOW shows that 28 per cent of complaints recorded by Health Boards and Trusts were about clinical treatment or assessment, 18 per cent were about appointments, and 17 per cent were about communication issues.

Welsh Health Boards and Trusts closed just over 9,700 complaints within the relevant period - 76 per cent within the target of 30 working days, the data shows.

A report into the first complaints data release said: “When people are unhappy with how service providers considered their complaints, they can refer those complaints to PSOW. “Therefore, the volume of complaints handled by Welsh Health Boards and Trusts gives context to PSOW caseload as well.

“Between April and September 2022, PSOW received just under 500 complaints related to Welsh Health Boards and Trusts.

“This means that about five per cent of all complaints that Health Boards and Trust closed within the relevant period were referred to PSOW.

“Within the same period, PSOW closed 413 complaints about Health Boards and Trusts.”

Michelle Morris, the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales, said: “I’m pleased to publish complaints data from Welsh Health Boards and Trusts for the first time.

“Visibility of this information helps public bodies improve the way they deliver services, promotes transparency, and it shows the level of service they provide to the general public.”

Matthew Harris, Public Service Ombudsman for Wales’s Head of Complaints Standards, said: “I’m delighted that we’re able to publish this data for the first time.

“We’ve been working with public bodies since 2019 to help them feel confident in the way they handle complaints.

“Data always has to be the start of the story, and this publication gives us new and improved ways to describe performance.”