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

West Midlands Ambulance Service (Non-Emergency Patient Transport - NEPT)


Hospital transport refused carer to travel

Hospital transport dept. refused my carer to travel with me. They asked if I was mentally ill. Repeatedly put me on hold four times. Put some else on the phone without telling me I was been transferred or whom I was speaking to. Despite been on the call for 10 minutes. I was declined carer support whilst travelling to my appointment. Unless I got someone from my GP's surgery to confirm I'm mentally ill. My GP's surgery rang to confirm as requested and the carer was still declined! Saying I don't fit the criteria! I the had to contact My CPN and Psychiatrist to speak to hospital transport. It was not until after this, seven hours later, I was informed I was now allowed to travel with my carer. I was subjected to unnecessary stress and anxiety. I was not treated with dignity or respect and felt degraded and experienced mental health discrimination. This is totally unacceptable.