Complaints against health services have surged 75% since 2009, the head of a watchdog has told MSPs.

Scottish Public Services Ombudsman Jim Martin said there has been a "significant increase" in health complaints - up 9% in the past year alone.

The Ombudsman's office received 599 health complaints in 2007-08, increasing to 1,512 in 2015-16.

Faults with clinical treatment or diagnosis accounted for more than three-quarters of complaints in 2015/16, while around 12% related to staff rudeness, breaches of confidentiality, and waiting time delays.

He told Holyrood's Health and Sport Committee: "Over the last year there has been a significant increase in the health complaints that are coming to us.

"Since I became Ombudsman in 2009, the increase in health complaints is around 75%."

He said the amount of complaints upheld by his office is around 56% for health compared to 50% for public services in general.

He said: "The worrying thing about that is these are cases that have already been investigated at the local level. An investigation's been conducted at a local level, complaints have been not upheld, by and large, and brought to me.

"We've investigated, and in more than half of these cases we're finding faults.

"The proportion of cases we see overall that health takes up has increased over that period. Health is the fastest growing area of complaints that come to my office."

He said NHS complaints handling is improving and he hopes a new complaints system due to go live in April will lead to a fall in those upheld by the Ombudsman's office.