The phrase "are patchy and often" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to describe something that is inconsistent or irregular in nature, often referring to information, data, or performance.
Example: "The results of the survey are patchy and often unreliable, making it difficult to draw any solid conclusions."
Alternatives: "are inconsistent and frequently" or "are irregular and often".
If you want to carry on reading and you don't speak French, translations of all but the most famous parts of the series are patchy and often out of print.
With thresholds for statutory intervention are climbing ever higher as cuts bite, even a referral by police or school may not prompt much meaningful action: the services that could offer this are patchy and often provided by voluntary sector specialists that have lost funding and therefore the capacity to help early on.
Child protection data are patchy and often unreliable and there is a general lack of evidence about child protection approaches that have been proven to work.
The little research that exists on gender dysphoria is patchy and often fiercely contested.
Our biographical knowledge of the great Elizabethan and Jacobean writers is patchy and often two-dimensional.
A few UN agencies and UN missions in some countries do important work on gender equality and women's rights, but it's patchy and often depends on an individual champion to push for it.
Families who cannot rely on relatives to look after their children – a common strategy among working-age Italians – will have to find childcare, the public provision of which in southern Italy is patchy and often over-subscribed.
They have exposed how healthcare for refugees is patchy and often inappropriate [ 2] with inequalities in relation to access adversely affecting refugee health [ 3- 5].
However, data to support claims on both the extent and the impact of migration in developing countries is patchy and often anecdotal, based on limited databases with highly inconsistent categories of education and skills [ 3, 4].
However, data to support claims on both the extent and the impact of migration in developing countries is patchy and often anecdotal, based on limited databases with highly inconsistent categories of education and skills.
Whistle-blower protection in the EU is patchy and often inadequate, say MEPs.
