COMPLAINTS about local hospitals dropped during the last year, a health watchdog has found.

Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust, the board that oversees care at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary and Calderdale Royal Hospital, had 40 complaints made against it in the past year.The previous year the trust had received 57 complaints.

Only one of those complaints in the current report was accepted for investigation by the Ombudsman and one was resolved through the intervention of the watchdog.

A spokesman for the hospital trust said: “We take all complaints very seriously and are shortly launching a new service to make the process more responsive for our patients.

“We welcome the Ombudsman's report into complaints handling by the NHS in England 2011 and will be carefully studying this to identify any areas for improvement in our own systems.”

The review by the Health Service Ombudsman found that more than 15,000 complaints were made about the NHS last year.

And 1,222 of them came from Yorkshire and Humber.

Health Ombudsman Ann Abraham described the NHS complaints service as “patchy and slow”.

Ms Abraham said: “The NHS is still not dealing adequately with the most straightforward matters.”

NHS Kirklees, the GP-led primary care trust responsible for healthcare across Huddersfield North, Huddersfield South, Spen, Dewsbury, Mirfield, Batley, Birstall and Birkenshaw had 22 complaints made against it compared to the previous year when it had 19.

Similarly, only one had to be resolved by the Ombudsman and none were accepted for further investigation.

Ms Abraham added: “There is a growing recognition that patient feedback is a valuable resource for the NHS at a time of uncertainty and change.

“It is a resource that is directly and swiftly available, covering all aspects of service, care and treatment.

“But when feedback is ignored and becomes a complaint, it risks changing from being an asset to a cost.”

The Ombudsman also received 19 complaints about the South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust – the organisation that provides mental health services to people across Kirklees, Calderdale and Wakefield.

They failed to resolve any of these complaints. Across the country, 15,066 health complaints were made, compared to 14,429 made last year.

According to the report, the most common reasons for complaints were “clinical care and treatment and poor communication”.

Within Yorkshire and The Humber Strategic Health Authority, 173 complaints were made about GPs, 614 were made about an NHS hospital, specialist and teaching trusts while 247 were made about Primary Care Trusts.

Opticians from across the region only received one complaint against them.

Across the country, 46% of complaints were made about an NHS hospital, specialist and teaching trusts while 17% were made about GPs.

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust was found to be the third most complained-about health body within the country having received 117 complaints against them.

The Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust based in Birmingham received the most complaints with 171 – more than double they received last year.