A Medical Protection Society (MPS) survey revealed almost half (45%) of GP practice managers find AI generated complaints from patients are increasing workload and having a negative impact on the practice team's wellbeing and morale.

Dr Sarah Townley, deputy medical director at MPS, said: ‘The benefit of being able to produce a complaint in a matter of seconds … appears to be having the effect of lowering the thresholds around what patients will complain about, and encouraging more complaints to be made in the heat of the moment rather than using simpler routes to resolve an issue.'

Dr Townley said practices were often receiving complaints letters of 20 pages or longer

The survey of almost 160 practice managers in the UK also showed only 7% have not encountered an AI-generated complaint.

Last month, after a wave of AI generated complaints, Lincolnshire Local Medical Committee issued guidance to GP practices across the country to share with their patients. The guidance reassures patients that they do not need to use legal language or quote laws for their complaint to be taken seriously, and encourages a short, clear explanation of their concern in their own words. It also suggests some steps patients should take if they do use AI, such as taking care when entering personal or medical information.