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

Vicarage Road Surgery


Referral problems and misdiagnosed

Attended GP Surgery with UTI symptoms. I was given antibiotics, which didn't seem to clear the infection. I was told by another doctor at my GP surgery that I was given the wrong dosage. I saw 4 different GPs at my surgery over the space of 3 months. I had excruciating pain in my abdomen and it took until the end of October /beginning of November for any of my GPs to refer me for scans. I visited A&E 4 times over the course of these 3 months where no scan was given and was told my symptoms and results were not serious enough. When I finally got an ultrasound scan the radiographer told me that it should have been done in A&E as I had a blockage. I had a CT scan at the end of November which showed the blockage had cleared after a worryingly and traumatic few months. The pain was so bad I had to take time of work and I had taken 4 different types of antibiotics over three months whilst being told by numerous doctors they were not sure if the UTI had cleared. This was a horrendous experience as I was never seen by a consistent person. I wasn't take seriously. I had to keep chasing my GP's to investigate further. It didn't help that I saw a different GP every time. QE waiting times were awful Doctors at QE would just give me more antibiotics and say that my symptoms didn't warrant a scan. I was told different information by my radiographer than what he had written on the report and to my GP wouldn't listen to what I was saying about needing another scan even though I had been in pain for 2 months at that point.