Websites & patient experience · Practical guide

Explain group sessions and individual appointments

A practice promotes sessions without stating whether someone will attend alone or with a group. Visitors may infer privacy, duration or personal attention that the booking does not include. A group session affects expectations about privacy, attention and the time available. Describe the format before the booking action and explain any practical question the team can answer in advance.

Healthcare website and appointment calendar displayed on devices at an empty clinic reception.
Make the website useful for the people who use your practice.

What to change

Describe the attendance format before the booking step. Explain the practical arrangement and route for questions, while keeping clinical suitability decisions with the responsible professional.

A worked example

Illustrative example

A movement class page describes a small group session led by a practitioner. A separate appointment page explains the one-to-one option and its fee, without portraying either format as universally better.

Healthcare website design showing connected desktop and mobile service and enquiry layouts.
Make the service and next step clear on every screen.
Healthcare website accessibility illustrated by a focus outline, keyboard key, contrast samples and form.
Review keyboard access, contrast and understandable form fields.

Put it into practice

Ask the service owner what can accurately be said about attendance numbers and individual time. The page can explain the benefits of the offer without allowing a general phrase such as “personal support” to imply a one-to-one appointment.

Check that the fee label identifies what it reserves, such as one person's place in the session. A group photograph alone does not clarify attendance or payment arrangements.

What to agree before publishing

Describe who normally attends and what the advertised time and fee refer to, using details the service owner can confirm. A group session should not be presented in terms that imply guaranteed private attention. If an individual alternative exists, explain it separately rather than portraying one format as universally better. Ask a reader what they think their payment reserves and who else may be present. Their answer helps reveal whether warm phrases such as personal support are obscuring the actual attendance format.

How to check the result

A prospective attendee understands who else may be present and what their payment reserves.

A mistake to avoid

Do not use personalised care as a substitute for explaining a group format; readers may interpret it as a private appointment.

Turn reading into a next step

Your action checklist

Work through these checks with your team or supplier. Tick the ones you have resolved and leave unknowns open.

Checks to discuss

Record what you know, what is still missing and the answer you need from your team or supplier.

Use project decisions only, without personal, patient or confidential details. Entries stay in this page and are not submitted to Kay & Co. Copy or download before leaving; this page does not save your notes.

Further reading

These sources provide background for the topic. The practice examples and checklist are illustrative planning suggestions from Kay & Co.

Related guides

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