Accept telephone numbers in familiar formats

What to change

Agree the number formats the practice can use and ask the supplier to accept ordinary spacing and prefixes without changing the meaning of the number.

A worked example

Illustrative example

A visitor pastes a number beginning with a plus sign and spaces. The form accepts it and presents a readable version for checking before submission.

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.

Why this matters to your practice

Your reception team needs a usable callback number, not a visitor who has mastered the website's preferred punctuation. Give your supplier examples of the numbers your practice expects to receive, including relevant overseas formats. Ask them to demonstrate both what the visitor sees and what arrives with the enquiry. This catches a form that accepts a number on screen but passes an incomplete version onwards. Avoid using real patient numbers in a demonstration or screenshot.

How to check the result

Accept when agreed valid examples survive typing, pasting, correction and transfer, and rejected examples receive a specific explanation.

A mistake to avoid

Do not treat a successful browser submission as proof that the receiving system preserved the complete number.

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 discussCreate fictional examples covering a local number, an international prefix and common spacing. Type and paste each example to see whether the form accepts it.Check the mobile keyboard and any automatic formatting. Moving the cursor to correct one digit should not unexpectedly erase the prefix or jump elsewhere.Ask reception and the supplier to review how accepted numbers appear in the receiving system. Any normalisation should preserve the meaning of the number supplied.

Your answers and notes

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

What happens next, and who will do it?

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.

Related guides

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