What to change
Describe the distinction between an offered time and a confirmed reservation. Agree the wording with the booking team and reflect the actual process for responding to offers.
A worked example
Illustrative example
An enquiry response lists two possible times and asks the patient to contact the team. The website explains that an appointment is confirmed only when the team sends the final booking details.
Put it into practice
Ask the team what happens when the person does not respond or the offered time no longer works. The language should distinguish an invitation to accept from an appointment already placed in the diary, so neither side has to infer the other's intention.
Put any response deadline in the same message as the offer, using the practice's actual arrangement. Do not make readers open separate terms to discover an action needed to keep the offer available.
What to agree before publishing
Put the offered details and reply instruction together, including any confirmed response deadline. Ask the team what happens if the time is unsuitable or no reply arrives. The message should distinguish an invitation from an already agreed appointment, using the practice's actual process. Review a fictional offer read only from its subject line and first screen on a phone. The key action should be visible enough that a patient does not mistake receiving the offer for accepting it.
How to check the result
A visitor can identify the action needed to turn an offered option into a confirmed visit.
A mistake to avoid
Do not add an arbitrary response deadline or claim a temporary hold if the practice does not actually operate one.
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.
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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