Investigations
Your experiences prompt and lead our activities and reports, which focus on improving services for everyone. If we hear of something that needs further investigation, we explore the issue with the help of patients and the public. We also talk to key professionals at the service we are investigating, encouraging them to make positive changes.
We follow up our investigations with impact reports to see if services have improved, and hold services to account for changes they stated they would make. If Healthwatch Birmingham finds no improvement, we may escalate the issue to Healthwatch England and local regulators. We also monitor the changes to ensure people experience sustained improvements.
Investigations
This investigation explores patient and carer involvement in hospital discharge decisions across Birmingham, highlighting gaps in communication, planning, and support.
This report examines the positive and negative experiences of patients going through the NHS referral pathway in Birmingham.
This investigation examines the barriers and challenges for children and young people on the Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and ADHD assessment and diagnostic pathways in Birmingham.
“Those of us who support families with neurodivergent children know how hard it is to get the right support due to delays in assessment and diagnosis. We hear the stories daily, and we are desperate for the situation to change. This report gives us data to quote and highlights the areas that need to improve. It gives strength to our arm when campaigning for change.”
Nora Young, Founder of BREWS Education
(Birmingham Resilience Education and Wellbeing Services CIC)
Impact reports
Impact Report: This report describes the changes that Birmingham NHS BSOL has made following Healthwatch Birmingham’s 2024 report ‘Local people’s views on the referral process from general practice to secondary care’.
This report describes the changes that Birmingham NHS BSOL has made following Healthwatch Birmingham and Healthwatch Solihull’s 2024 report ‘Access and barriers to NHS Community Pharmacies’ .
This report details changes Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (BSMHFT) has made to improve access to community mental health services and give patients greater control over their care.