The NHS trust in charge of Watford General only managed to respond to half of the 599 complaints it received last financial year within the required 20 working days.

In the annual complaints report presented to West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust it emerged 53 per cent of complaints were responded to in the timescale, with the average response time during 2014/15 38 days - a reduction of 18 days compared to the year before.

Some 599 formal complaints were made to West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust in the period - a decrease of three per cent - as well as 41 enquiries brought by MPs on behalf of constituents.

Additionally, 68 informal concerns were raised that required a written response, comments were sought from a third party organisation on 15 occasions and a further 87 cases were resolved early without needing a written response.

In all, the complaints team had a case load of 810 throughout the year.

The primary concerns of patients were clinical treatment, appointments, assessment and waiting times, staff attitude, communication and nursing care.

Tony Walker, interim complaints and Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) manager, said: "We recognise that, although performance has improved, we are not responding to all complaints as quickly as we would like to.

"The direction of travel is positive and the average time a complainant has waited for a response has reduced by 18 days however work will be concentrated on this area to assist the divisions in prioritising the investigation of complaints and in the provision of timely responses."