Trusts see surge in AI-generated complaints

Trusts’ complaints teams are facing a wave of AI-generated complaints letters which can run to dozens of pages, deploying inaccurate legal arguments and containing hallucinated information, HSJ has learned.

Multiple senior NHS figures have told HSJ they are seeing a marked increase in formal complaints drafted with the help of large language models such as ChatGPT.

The correspondence is becoming more legally complex, more detailed and harder to engage with than traditional patient complaint letters.

One chief executive said the rise in AI-generated complaints was increasing the overall volume of complaints and putting a strain on complaints and patient advice and liaison service (PALS) teams.

For example, AI tools are referencing and interpreting trust policies and the law with a precision that requires significantly more resource to address.

James Biggin-Lamming, director of strategy and transformation at London North West Healthcare Trust, said doctors had received complaint letters “clearly using AI that has hallucinated treatment options patients then feel they have been denied”.

He wrote on LinkedIn that this was impacting trust with patients and families, but was also draining for teams and “risks diverting time and energy from helping care for people”.

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Source: HSJ, 5 May 2026