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

Four Oaks Medical Centre


Poor experiences outweigh the good

I really dread having to make an appointment! The stress and frustration of the call just isn't worth it - I have been suffering for years with several ailments that I am trying hard to ignore as the stress of getting an appointment is not worth it. Even before lockdown, going to the doctor was rarely a positive experience, I usually (with some notable exceptions) felt as though the appointments were generally rushed and I was only half listened to. There are some excellent doctors and I have had some good consultations - you just need to be lucky to get one - unfortunately the poor experiences outweigh the good and reception / admin are the worst part of the overall service. The nurses are wonderful - but why does it take 2 weeks to get a blood test done when the results can be back in less than 6 hours! Like many others, I do feel as though lockdown has been used as an excuse for not seeing patients. Also, the app has functionality on it to book appointments but despite trying dozens of times, there are never any appointments available - I am guessing it just isn't used but if that is the case, why isn't there a comment telling the user that they are wasting their time trying to get an appointment using the app. Finally, I think there is a problem with the prescription process, I get the impression that doctors believe prescription process cycle complete next day. In my experience it normally takes 4 days from the doctor telling me he has sent a prescription across (to Boots) to me receiving the text that tells me it is ready for collection.