Four out of five patients who lodged complaints with hospitals are unhappy with the response they got, the first survey on the Patients' Charter has shown.
The Alliance for Patients' Mutual Help Organisations found nearly half - 45.8 per cent - of 310 chronically ill patients had never heard of the charter, even though it had been in place for three years.
Of the 22 per cent who had complained to hospitals, nearly 40 per cent were dissatisfied with the results.
Another 39 per cent said they received no answer, while 18 per cent said the hospitals failed to carry out follow-up investigations. Complaints included staff rudeness, confusing explanations and surgical mistakes.
Cancer patient Tang Sang, 65, who lodged a complaint with a Queen Mary Hospital patient liaison officer in June, described channels as useless.
He complained after waiting nine hours in a ward, then meeting his anaesthetist for less than three minutes before a liver operation.