Using AI to help write a complaint to your GP or the NHS: what the ombudsman advises

If you are thinking of using an AI chatbot to help write a complaint about your GP or another NHS service in England, the ombudsman that handles those complaints has already said how to do it. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO), whose website brands it the Public Service Ombudsman, published a page called "Using AI to help write your complaint" on 3 August 2026 and last updated it on 1 October 2026.

Why this matters now

On Monday 12 October, GPonline reported a survey of 158 GP practice managers, alongside comment from the Medical Protection Society (MPS). According to GPonline, 45% said AI-generated complaints have a negative impact on staff morale because of increased workload, and 40% said they are creating additional work for staff. GPonline also reports that 2% said such complaints are easier to understand and respond to, 6% had noticed no impact and 7% had received none. MPS deputy medical director Dr Sarah Townley said, according to GPonline: "Letters can be 20 pages, sometimes longer." She added that such complaints "include detailed but occasionally questionable legal arguments".

What the ombudsman says to do

The PHSO's starting point is that it needs "to understand your personal experience and how the issues affected you", and that "Simple, clear language that explains what happened is always more helpful than complicated, formal writing."

If you do use AI, the page's advice includes:

• Focus on your experience. It advises: "Focus your prompts on your experience and how it made you feel."
• Keep it in your own voice. The page says its suggestions are meant to help "make sure your complaint still sounds like you."
• Check everything. "Always check AI-generated text to make sure it's accurate and reflects your own personal experience."

It also offers five sample prompts. Two of them, quoted exactly:

Help me describe what happened in simple, clear language: [describe each issue in detail, including who was involved, what they said or did, and when it happened]. Help me express this clearly while keeping it in my own voice.

Rewrite the text below as a clear, polite complaint. Use only the information I have provided. Do not add or invent new facts. Be concise and professional, but not too formal. Include a closing paragraph suggesting how I would like the complaint to be resolved.

The other three cover putting events in order ("what happened first, second, third and so on"), organising "what the organisation did wrong" while telling the AI to "do not make any assumptions", and explaining "how this affected my daily life and how it made me feel".

What to avoid

• Legal arguments. The page says: "Do not ask AI to add legal arguments, use formal legal language or refer to laws to make your complaint sound more 'official'."
• Personal details in the chatbot. It says you "should remove any personal information that could identify you, such as your full name or NHS number, and use placeholders instead", giving "[the nurse]" and "[my advocate]" as examples. You then add your real details "directly to the complaint form without having to share it with the AI tool."
• Unchecked output. The fifth sample prompt tells the AI to "Use only the information I have provided" and "Do not add or invent new facts". You still need to read the result against what actually happened.

A note on privacy

The PHSO warns that "AI providers may use your information to train their systems and may process it in other countries", and says to "Avoid entering sensitive personal information unless you're confident about how it will be used and protected."

On our reading, that applies with extra force to health information. Describing what happened in general terms, with placeholders, is safer than pasting in letters, test results or extracts from your medical record.

Where to send your complaint

The ombudsman is the last step, not the first. Its page on what to do before you come to it says: "you'll usually need to complain to the organisation you're unhappy with first and receive a final response." For a hospital, it suggests starting with the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) or the complaints department.

If you are still unhappy after that final response, the PHSO says you need to complain to it "within 12 months of when you became aware of the problem", though there is "some flexibility" in some circumstances. It lists GPs, NHS dentists and NHS hospitals among the organisations it can look into. It also says it cannot make a complaint for you, and points to free advocacy services through your local authority, as well as PALS, the Patients Association and local Healthwatch.

Scope: the PHSO says it "can only look at complaints about the NHS in England and UK government services." Its "If we cannot help" page names the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, which it describes as the final stage for complaints about the NHS in Scotland, the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales and the Northern Ireland Ombudsman (officially the Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman). If your complaint is about NHS care in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, check that ombudsman's own process. The PHSO's AI advice is written for complaints to the PHSO.

Why it matters

On our reading, the PHSO's advice and the concerns reported by GPonline point the same way: a short, factual account in your own words, with AI used to organise the account rather than inflate it.