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

Yewcroft CMHT


Not providing a service at all

I'm meant to have appointments with the psychiatrist every 6 weeks. After waiting four months for my next appointment, they then phoned to say the psychiatrist is off sick and that they had no one else who could see patients. They said I'll go on a waiting list to see a temporary replacement, but that they haven't got one at the moment. They then sent me a letter full of spelling mistakes, telling me to not call them, but to call a mental health charity if I need to speak to someone. I think its disgusting that the mental health trust for this city can't provide even a basic service. Surely they should be checking with all their patients how well we are to wait, rather than palming us off onto a different organisation! I can't get a prescription from a charity, I need to speak to a doctor! I also had test results I needed to speak to someone about, but they said they've passed them onto my GP, who is impossible to get hold of. Why make it so hard for people with mental illness who are vulnerable. Absolutely shocking.