Table 1.
Descriptive details of the compliment letters
| Letter details | % | n |
| Format | ||
| Paper letter | 80 | 1016 |
| Digital letter | 20 | 251 |
| Addressee | ||
| Front-line staff | 17 | 210 |
| Team/unit/department | 53 | 667 |
| Senior management | 31 | 390 |
| Author | ||
| Patient | 58 | 731 |
| Family or friend | 36 | 459 |
| Other (eg, staff, GP, private carer) | 6 | 77 |
| Patient age | ||
| Child | 7 | 86 |
| Adult (not described as elderly) | 60 | 754 |
| Elderly | 20 | 248 |
| Unclear | 14 | 179 |
| Type of care sought | ||
| Accident and emergency | 31 | 388 |
| Planned procedure | 27 | 346 |
| Chronic care | 24 | 308 |
| Maternity | 4 | 52 |
| Unclear | 14 | 173 |
| Outcome | ||
| Positive | 32 | 407 |
| Expected | 54 | 689 |
| Negative | 2 | 26 |
| Patient death | 11 | 135 |
| Indeterminate | 1 | 10 |
GP, general practitioner.