Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of staffing levels on the volume of complaints received by NHS trusts.

No assessment has been made. The responsibility for staffing levels is with clinical and other leaders at a local level, responding to local needs, supported by guidelines by national and professional bodies and overseen and regulated in England by the Care Quality Commission.

Providers of National Health Services should have a systematic approach to determine and review the number of staff and range of skills needed to meet the needs of people using their services and keep them safe at all times. This includes taking into account feedback and complaints data to inform staffing decisions and improve services.