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

College Green Medical Practice (Health & Wellbeing Centre)


Great difficulty getting an appointment

Tried to make an appt online. System not working. Called surgery. Explained that I was experiencing bad side effects from medication. Offered an appointment over two weeks away or call at 8.30 following morning which I did. Had to keep redialling 5 times before I got into a queue waiting about a minute each time listening to a recorded message before being told to call back later. Eventually after about half an hour got through to be told no more appointments available and to call again tomorrow. Asked what if I can't get an appt tomorrow? Just told to try again tomorrow or they would.offer an appt in May three weeks away. Poor instructions on their website re booking an appt on line. Took me an hour and a half from start to finish and eventually secured an appointment on line for a telephone consultation in over two weeks time. I was told by the GP who prescribed the medication to get in touch straight away if the side effects were unmanageable but I have to wait over a fortnight with no advice given in the meantime. Some reception staff seem poorly trained and only have one aim which is to get you off the phone. No choice given for times for calls from GP. I don't know how people who work manage to make an appointment at all taking into consideration the amount of time it takes to make an appointment. And for people with no access to the internet their chances of making an appt must be very limited. There were no issues with making an appt when the surgeries were separate. It is more than disappointing that so much money has been spent on this new building only to find that the service to patients falls short of what is acceptable. Two systems for making appts which are not synchronized. Phone or V Consult. Problems getting logged onto V consult were understood by reception staff who were reluctant to provide the information I need to get logged on.