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.

Your reply

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Original feedback for

Heartlands Hospital


A poor experience of children's A&E

We were sent to a separate room to the side of the main waiting area because my child has additional needs. After waiting over 8 hours we were told that there was nothing they could do and that we have to wait to see a community paediatrician. I suffer from a severe visual impairment and eye condition and needed saline for my eyes while waiting with my child. The staff were not willing to help which was very frustrating. In the end I appealed to a member of the reception team who provided me with some saline. The way so many of the staff dismissed my requests and showed no empathy to our situation was very disappointing, I was asking for saline solution not prescription medication.