Learning from our – and other people's – mistakes

THE number of complaints in the Scottish Health Service is, according to the latest published data, up 7 per cent for family health services but down 7 per cent for hospital and community services. It is difficult to know whether this is good news or bad.

One argument is that an increase in the number of complaints is good, as it shows the service is encouraging people to complain and will therefore be able to address the issues, learn from its mistakes and change more quickly. The counter argument is...