Healthwatch Birmingham

What Healthwatch Birmingham does

Healthwatch Birmingham & Solihull is a statutory non-profit organization that serves as the independent local champion for health and social care across the Birmingham and Solihull combined authority area in England. Operating under the national Healthwatch framework (part of the Care Quality Commission structure), the organization gathers public experiences of NHS and social care services and channels that feedback into service design, policy consultations, and provider decisions. Its core offerings include annual reports, thematic investigations, formal consultation responses to government bodies (notably the Department of Health and Social Care), a service directory for residents, and direct support for individuals navigating NHS and social care systems. The organization operates a free telephone helpline, maintains a website, conducts community outreach events, and runs a volunteer program to engage residents across the region.

The organization has no proprietary technology platform; its capabilities are built on human-led qualitative engagement, community organizing, and published reports. It serves the general population of Birmingham and Solihull, with particular attention to vulnerable groups facing barriers to healthcare access, including those with limited digital literacy, language support needs, or housing insecurity. Its business model is publicly funded through local authority contracts under the statutory Healthwatch framework, with all services provided free of charge to residents. The organization employs 31 staff and is governed by a board, with no disclosed parent company, institutional investors, or commercial revenue streams.

Name

Healthwatch Birmingham

Legal name

Healthwatch Birmingham & Solihull

Website

https://healthwatchbirmingham.co.uk

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Healthwatch Birmingham & Solihull is a publicly funded non-profit that serves as the independent statutory champion for health and social care across Birmingham and Solihull, gathering resident experiences to influence NHS service design and policy through reports, consultations, and direct advocacy support.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Healthcare Consumer Advocacy

SIC

Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090)

akta.pro primary industry

Patient Advocacy, Navigation & Access to Care (BPAGACAH)

Keywords

• Health advocacy services
• Social care champion
• Patient voice representation
• NHS consultation responses
• Healthwatch statutory body

Headquarters

HQ city

Birmingham

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Public Funding: Healthwatch Birmingham & Solihull is a publicly funded organization operating under the Healthwatch framework, likely receiving funding through local authority contracts to fulfill its statutory role as the local health and social care champion.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Healthwatch Birmingham & Solihull is the independent local health and social care champion for Birmingham and Solihull residents. It gathers public experiences of NHS and social care services, conducts investigations and formal consultations, provides free advocacy and information/signposting support, and uses this evidence to influence local commissioners, providers, and the wider Healthwatch England network. All services are provided free of charge to the public.

Product overview

Healthwatch Birmingham & Solihull is a community interest company that serves as an independent champion for health and social care, gathering public experiences to influence NHS and social care service decisions. Rather than a commercial product platform, its offerings consist of advocacy programs and informational services including annual reports documenting organizational impact, investigations into healthcare issues, formal responses to government consultations (such as NHS Online), a service directory for locating care providers, and direct support for individuals navigating NHS and social care systems. These reports, consultation responses, and support services work together to amplify patient voices and drive improvements in local health and social care provision.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Health Advocacy Service Free independent advocacy for residents of Birmingham and Solihull who have concerns about NHS or adult social care services. Helps individuals understand their rights, raise issues, and navigate complaints processes.
• Information and Signposting Service (Find a Service) Free information and signposting service that helps Birmingham and Solihull residents find appropriate local NHS and social care services, including via the website's "Find a Service" directory.
• Investigations Programme Formal investigations conducted into specific local health and social care services based on aggregated public feedback, with statutory powers to require responses from providers and commissioners.
• Public Consultations Programme Formal public consultations and surveys gathering Birmingham and Solihull residents' views on health and care issues, including responses to NHS England consultations such as the NHS Online consultation.

Quantifiable outcome

• Annual reports document how public experiences have shaped NHS and social care conversations and decisions

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHealthwatch Birmingham & Solihull responds to government consultations on behalf of local residents, providing patient perspectives on national NHS policy proposals. They contributed to the NHS Online consultation and NHS Modernisation Bill consultations.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Healthwatch Wandsworth: Healthwatch Wandsworth is a London-based local Healthwatch operating under identical statutory duties. It provides direct comparison on funding levels, team size, and engagement throughput for an urban local Healthwatch of broadly similar scope.
• Healthwatch Manchester: Healthwatch Manchester is a fellow statutory local Healthwatch serving Manchester residents under the same national framework. It operates an equivalent model — gathering public feedback, publishing reports, and responding to consultations on NHS and social care — making it the most structurally comparable peer.
• Healthwatch Leeds: Healthwatch Leeds is another local Healthwatch organization operating under the same statutory framework. It mirrors Healthwatch Birmingham & Solihull's community engagement, advocacy, and consultation response model in a different urban geography.
• Healthwatch Hackney: Healthwatch Hackney is a London-based local Healthwatch with a comparable urban, multi-diverse population profile. It offers relevant comparability for Healthwatch Birmingham & Solihull on issues such as health inequalities, language support, and digital exclusion.
• Healthwatch Bradford and District: Healthwatch Bradford and District is another statutory local Healthwatch serving a diverse urban population in West Yorkshire. It offers a comparable operating model and demographic profile, useful for benchmarking engagement metrics and impact reports.
• Healthwatch Kirklees: Healthwatch Kirklees is a local Healthwatch operating in West Yorkshire under the same statutory framework. It provides a like-for-like comparison on community engagement approaches, volunteer programs, and local NHS consultation response patterns.

Broad incumbents

• Healthwatch England: Healthwatch England is the national body within the Care Quality Commission framework that oversees the local Healthwatch network. Healthwatch Birmingham & Solihull operates as a local franchisee under this national umbrella, making Healthwatch England the direct parent-tier peer and policy coordinator.
• Care Quality Commission (CQC): The CQC is the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England and is the parent body of Healthwatch England. Healthwatch Birmingham & Solihull feeds patient feedback into CQC's inspection regime, making CQC a structural peer for understanding the broader regulatory ecosystem.

Emerging players

• The Patients Association: The Patients Association is a UK-wide independent charity that campaigns for patient involvement in health and social care. It complements the local Healthwatch model by operating at a national level and shares a similar patient-advocacy value proposition, making it an adjacent peer for impact and reach comparison.

Others

• NHS Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board: The NHS Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board is the principal local NHS commissioning body that Healthwatch BSOL engages with and provides patient feedback to. It is not a competitor but a key ecosystem counterpart and customer, making it relevant for understanding the demand-side context.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/healthwatch-birmingham

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Healthwatch Birmingham