'patchy success' is a correct and usable phrase in written English.
You can use it to describe a situation in which some successes have been achieved, but this overall success is incomplete or mixed. For example, "The team had a patchy success in the competition, winning some awards but failing to secure the main prize."
For a country of movie addicts, animated films have had patchy success.
His attempts to put the chuckles into Chomsky, although brave, meet with only patchy success.
The 38-year-old leader has tried, albeit with patchy success, to promote reform at home.
Efforts to attract private investment for infrastructure have had only patchy success.
So, when it comes to the patchy success in predicting Garden State weather, don't blame the meteorologists alone.
The successful prosecution of Mahdi will, however, be a boost to the ICC, which has been heavily criticised for its expense and patchy success in prosecution.
Though the tactic has been preached at Wal-Mart as far back as the days of Sam Walton, who coyly referred to the retailing colossus as a "small-town merchant," its regional merchandising is being realized after years of patchy successes and plenty of misfires.
Jarmusch has enjoyed rather patchy commercial success at the UK box office.
Where the offer of testing is not routine (such as in general outpatients or in-patient wards), uptake can be patchy with success dependant on local programmes, policies and staffing.
But the state, while a powerful instrument, has a patchy record of success in many of the areas she wishes to address.
The report cites research, including a study by the Spanish Savings Banks Foundation, asserting that there had been no noticeable rise in GDP per person or productivity in Spain as a result of the billions of euros of economic aid it has received since it joined in 1986; another OECD report found only "patchy" evidence of success.
