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

Royal Orthopaedic Hospital


Appointment changed 3 times in two days

After waiting 5 months I finally got an outpatient appointment for 28 November. On 11 November I was notified this had been changed to 16 November. A long standing commitment meant I could not attend on this day. After phoning and waiting for 30 minutes I got through to someone in appointments who said nothing else was available. After some pleading, explaining that I was out of the country for 7 weeks from 31 December, I was offered an appointment on 19 December which I gratefully accepted and which was confirmed online by the hospital. 24 hours later I got another online letter telling me the appointment was now on 9 January - when I am out of the county. After waiting another 20 minutes on the phone I was told there was nothing available and I should ring in a couple of weeks to book for February. Meanwhile I struggle to get up & down stairs & have had to give up playing tennis. If I get an appointment in February it will be 8 months since my referral from my GP. What on earth is going on at this hospital?