From Voices to Action: Winter Update
Thank you to everyone who shared their experiences with us this winter. This update highlights our work across Birmingham and Solihull, including community engagement, supporting individuals through Information and Signposting, consultation responses, and improvements to our online Feedback Centre.
An Improved Way to Share Feedback: Our Updated Feedback Centre
We have launched a new version of our online Feedback Centre to make it easier for local people to share their experiences of health and social care services.
This updated Feedback Centre is part of our ongoing work to improve how we collect feedback and use it consistently over time.
You can use the Feedback Centre to:
- Share an experience of a health or social care service
- Tell us what went well and what could be improved
- Help us build a clearer picture of what is happening locally
The improved Feedback Centre helps us:
- Organise and present feedback more clearly
- Identify themes across services
- Share insight with NHS teams, councils, and local commissioners and regulators in a clear and consistent way
You can share feedback at any time about services, including GPs, hospitals, dentists, pharmacies, mental health services, social care and more. Your feedback helps us spot patterns across services over time and share what we’re hearing with partners across Birmingham and Solihull.
Listening in the Community
Between October and December 2025, we attended community events across Birmingham and Solihull to hear directly from residents and community groups, including people who may not usually share feedback online or by phone.
Events included:
- Inclusive recruitment event in West Birmingham, where we spoke to over 100 people
- World Mental Health Day events in East and Central Birmingham
- A Black History Month event in West Birmingham
- A Men’s Mental Health Walk in Solihull
- A Carers’ Rights event in Solihull
- Sparkbrook Children’s Zone at the Central Mosque, where we spoke to over 200 people
- Erdington Dementia Carers Group in North Birmingham
- Christmas events with community groups, including a Stroke club and the Unity Hub in East Birmingham
What people said about our community work
“You have helped a tremendous number of patients, family members and staff. We have received feedback from many people that they have learnt so much about the services that can help people in our local communities.”
Asad Muhammed, Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Trust
“Thank you once again for attending our SHP Carers Event on Saturday 27th September 2025, it was great to see you, and thank you for all the support, advice and information you offered to the 80+ carers that attended…”
Jennifer Homer and Lee Ann Sharp, Solihull Health Partnership
Supporting Individuals
We provide Information and Signposting in two main ways: through our dedicated Information and Signposting service, and through conversations at community engagement events.
This winter, we supported over 450 people with Information and Signposting.
If you need help finding the right service, or you’re not sure where to start, our Information and Signposting team can help with:
- Understanding what services are available locally
- Knowing who to contact
- Finding support for mental health, social care, and more
- Information on raising concerns, making a complaint, or sharing feedback
Our three members of staff dedicated to Information and Signposting respond to enquiries by phone and email. People often contact the team with sensitive enquiries, and we share clear next steps and relevant support options. Feedback shared through the service also helps shape our future work. Click this link to contact us.
Examples of support this winter:
A parent navigating an ongoing complaint with Heartlands Hospital told us the process felt like “a rollercoaster of complaints.” We signposted them to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, shared additional support options, and outlined next steps, including who to contact.
A worker contacted us after an occupational health assessment and raised concerns about how medical standards were applied to their role. We explained their options for raising concerns and recorded their experience to inform wider learning.
Turning Insight into Action
Here are a few examples of how we’ve used feedback and insight to inform ongoing work.
NHS App
Over 700 people took part in our NHS App poll.
This work focuses on understanding barriers people face when using online services and the alternatives people need when digital access is not possible or does not work for them. We are now exploring next steps with partners involved in digital access and the local rollout of the NHS App.
Access to alternatives to digital
You told us that although many GP websites say appointments can be booked by phone, in practice people are often told to use online forms only.
We worked with the GP Provider Support Unit (which supports GP practices across Birmingham and Solihull) to look at:
- Ensuring patients know they can request non-digital options
- Supporting GP practices to offer alternatives consistently
Screening services
By engaging with individuals who have experienced barriers to accessing screening services, we have captured five case studies that outline what helps people access screening, what prevents access, and what could be improved.
Non-emergency patient transport
We shared a briefing document highlighting the issues raised by local people who rely on non-emergency patient transport to attend appointments.
This helps make sure these experiences are recorded clearly and can be considered by the teams responsible for improving the service.
Celebrating our Volunteers
Over 90 volunteers support our work across Birmingham and Solihull, helping us stay connected to local communities and hear from more people.
This winter, we brought our volunteers together for a Christmas thank you event, with food and a quiz, to celebrate the time and support they give to our work.
Volunteers also helped review adult safeguarding information on the Solihull Safeguarding Adults Board website. Their input highlighted where information could be clearer and easier to find. We have shared this feedback so it can be considered as part of future improvements.
If you’re interested in volunteering with Healthwatch Birmingham & Solihull, you can find out more on our website.
Speaking Up for People Through Reports and Consultation Responses
Our reports and consultation responses help make sure people’s experiences are reflected in decisions about local health and care.
Between October and December, we published:
- A report on women’s experiences and improving menopause care in Birmingham and Solihull
- Our response to Birmingham City Council’s consultation on children’s centres and family hubs
- Our response to the Birmingham and Solihull Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment 2025–2028
- Responses to NHS England and DHSC consultations on:
- Children and Young People’s Gender Service specification
- Medicines responsibilities for optometrists and contact lens opticians
- Pharmacist flexibilities when dispensing medicines
- Our response to the CQC consultation: Better regulation, better care
You can find out more on by clicking here.
Continuing to Hear
We’re continuing to gather feedback on several important topics, including:
Digital access: barriers to using online services and how digital exclusion affects access to care
Dementia: experiences of people living with dementia when using health and social care services
LGBTQ+ health needs: experiences of LGBTQ+ people accessing services
Screening services: stories from people who have accessed screening programmes, including the barriers they faced and what supported them.
You can share feedback on any of these through our Feedback Centre, or contact our Information and Signposting team.
Working Together
We regularly share what we hear with local NHS and social care teams so that people’s experiences inform discussions and decisions about services.
Our updated Feedback Centre supports this by capturing feedback in a clearer, more consistent way, making it easier to identify themes and share insight with partners.
Thank you
Thank you to everyone who shared their experiences with us this winter. Your feedback helps ensure local voices are heard and supports improvements in health and social care across Birmingham and Solihull.