PATIENTS who make a complaint about Basingstoke hospital are often having to wait for more than a month before receiving a response.

Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Basingstoke, Winchester and Andover hospitals, has a target of responding to 95 per cent of complaints within 25 working days.

But last year (2014), the trust only managed to respond to an average of 54 per cent of complaints within the allotted timeframe.

That fell to a low of 33 per cent in June – meaning that two thirds of complainants were left hanging for more than 25 days before they had a response.

The closest that HHFT came to hitting the target was in August, when 71 per cent of complaints were responded to within the recommended time.

A spokeswoman from the hospital said: "We recognise the importance of responding as quickly as possible, however we investigate every complaint and some investigations take longer than others. 

"We will acknowledge each complaint within three days.

"Each complaint, although difficult for the people involved provide us an opportunity to listen, to respond and to learn. 

"We strive to reach this learning within the quickest possible time. We apologise to the people who we have not responded to within our self-imposed target of 25 days."