The Healthwatch poll conducted by YouGov found over half (56%) of people who had no experience of the NHS took no action about their care and fewer than one in 10 (9%), made a formal complaint.

Louise Ansari, chief executive, said: ‘We need a step change in how people's complaints are handled and acted on. Healthcare leaders should focus on developing a culture of listening and learning from complaints across the sector. 

‘Making it easier for patients and families to navigate the complaints system through the NHS App, setting mandatory response times and measuring people's satisfaction with the process and the outcomes from complaints will be a key part of this.'

The research found a number of barriers to people lodging a complaint:

• around a third of respondents, 34%, didn't believe the NHS would use their complaint to improve services
• a third, 33%, thought NHS organisations wouldn't respond effectively to their complaint
• 30% didn't believe the NHS would think their complaint was serious enough
• one in five, 20%, were scared that complaining would affect their ongoing treatment
• 19% said they didn't know who to contact to make a complaint
• over half of people who made a complaint to an NHS organisation were dissatisfied with both the process of making a complaint, 56%, and the outcome of their complaint, 56%.  

The report recommends the NHS: makes the complaints process easier for patients and their families to navigate; monitors and improves the performance of organisations that handle complaints; and develops a culture of listening to and learning from complaints. 

An NHS spokesperson said: ‘Every patient deserves high-quality care, and NHS staff are working tirelessly to respond to the increasing demand for services – with a record number of patients coming forward in both primary care and hospitals in the past year.

‘The NHS takes patient experiences very seriously and we are committed to listening to patients and rolling out initiatives like Martha's Rule, which is already having a transformative effect in some cases.

‘This report highlights that there is still more to do to listen to patients, respond to complaints and improve services, which is why the NHS is working closely with the Government on this year's 10-Year Health Plan to help us transform services to provide the best quality care for patients.'