Right to Respond

As part of our commitment to providing an honest and transparent view of health and social care services, Healthwatch Birmingham encourages providers to respond to comments the public have left.

Alongside ensuring providers can have a fair say in discussions about their services, replying to reviews demonstrates evidence of responding to patient feedback for the CQC, who regularly monitor our Feedback Centre. It is also an effective way to recruit service users for any wider engagement work at your organisation.

Guidelines for provider responses:

  • Keep language appropriate and civil
  • Remain professional and treat people’s comments fairly
  • Engage with the content of the review by addressing specific points and avoid cut and pasting a standard response
  • Don’t disclose the service user’s personal details or any potentially identifying information
  • Where appropriate leave organisational contact details e.g PALS or patient engagement teams for people to get further information

Remember: your response will be seen by everyone who uses the Feedback Centre, not just the original reviewer. All responses are moderated in accordance with our moderation policy.

For full terms and conditions, including a guide to how right to reply works for service providers download this guide.

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Original feedback for

Bellevue Medical Group Practice


very bad experience

My mother had lung cancer she received the all clear after treatment. In 2016 she was taken to A&E with bad cough and given antibiotics. She was also x-rayed. The result went straight to her GP. There were concerns and my mum should have been invited for a thorough investigation, however the doctor never informed my mother or any other family members. One year later in 2017 she was again with same symptoms and she was then diagnosed with lung cancer. She had to have very strong radiotherapy, which was very difficult. She then sadly passed away a few months later. We as family felt there were lots of mistakes by the GP. Firstly they never contacted her for a crucial follow up appointment after the x-ray had flagged up issues. The doctor sent an apology letter for my mum when she was still alive, however we felt it wasn’t enough. They just blamed a computer glitch. We also had issues getting the death certificate they had marked her dearth place as hospital even though she died at home. They also called me to ask the time of death and asked me “what should I put in this certificate”. The biggest issue for us as a family is to try to accept that we can’t change anything. Had we known earlier my mum might still be alive. She might have avoided the harsh radiotherapy and as a family we would have had a chance to know earlier and spend real quality time together.