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

The Harlequin Surgery


Failure to refer

For almost a decade I had on my record that they suspect I have rheumatoid arthritis and I was not made aware until I received a print off of my record to go to a&e with during pregnancy. This meant no referral was ever made. I have recently had an x ray that shows degeneration in my knees (gp failed to call to tell me this, I had to call myself) and was told I need a referral. I called as I had not received an appointment in the advised timeframe and that’s because they failed to make the referral. Not only do I now have to wait again in a considerable amount of pain, I have to question if this would even have happened if they referred me when they suspected it when I was 11. I am now 25 potentially waiting for knee replacements because they can’t even make a referral properly