HOSPITAL chiefs would like to meet patients face-to-face to discusss their complaints rather than just writing them a letter.

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which includes the Alex Hospital in Redditch, received 67 complaints in February and 70 in March, the latest published figures.

Sources of complaint included communication, medical treatment and attitude.

Figures supplied ahead of a meeting of the trust board at the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch also showed 13 “serious incidents” had taken place across Worcestershire hospitals in February, including seven falls resulting in harm, three infection control issues, two general issues and one pressure ulcer.

Chief executive Penny Venables said at the meeting: “We are constantly looking at how we can do it better, how we can engage more with patients and their families who have concerns about our services in a timely manner but also listening to the messages that are coming through.”

Mrs Venables, who said she wanted a ‘slicker’ way of handling complaints in place, added: “As soon as we get a letter of complaint or a complaint through the website or through other means of communication we contact them, the person or their family, to find out what it is they want. Although we do respond to every single one, just to get a long letter just to explain things that can be quite technical is not as helpful as having a face-to-face discussion.”

Trust chairman Harry Turner said some people did not want to write a letter of complaint and added: “They want it fixed there and then.”

The trust has also reduced the number of complaints on ward 12 at the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch, which received the most complaints in previous periods, although the trust has yet to publish figures to show the drop.

Mr Turner praised the work done on ward 12 and said the reduction in the number of complaints there was “a fantastic achievement”.

The trust also needs to improve its response rates to complaints, with 76 per cent responded to within 25 working days, compared with a target of 90 per cent.

The trust has also overhauled its staffing to improve care and reduce complaints. The role of ‘senior staff nurse’ was created several months ago to improve leadership in each ward.

Helen Blanchard, the director of nursing and midwifery at the trust, wrote in a report delivered to the board: “It is also important that in the absence of a ward sister/charge nurse, patients, visitors and other staff are able to identify who is in charge and responsible for the quality of care at any given time.”