The Telegraph reports a big increase in the number of complaints about the NHS:
"The Healthcare Commission, the independent watchdog, investigated more than 10,000 cases last year. Complaints included cases of patients left in soiled bedding and allegations about rude nurses.
The commission upheld 20 per cent of complaints, more than twice as many as the previous year. Almost a third of complaints about hospitals involved lapses in basic nursing care.
Patients reported that they did not receive regular baths or showers and, in some cases, were left for hours in soiled bedding or clothes."
So long as we're just complaining to an organisation which is, in the end, accountable to politicians we won't get anywhere. Only if patients are given the power to take their business elsewhere when ill-treated by hospital staff will there be the right incentive for improvement.