Community nurses: booking practice clinic slots online

Turn your walk-in hours at the practice into slots patients book online: one service per type of care, such as blood tests, injections and dressing changes, with a slot length that fits each one. Keep a short walk-in window if you want one for unplanned needs, and say in each description what to bring. Patients arrive at a set time instead of waiting in the corridor, you know who is coming and why before the clinic starts, and your mornings stay free for home rounds.

A blood test takes a few minutes, a complex dressing much longer. On Book, each service has a name, a price and an optional description shown on your public page, and each slot belongs to one service, sits within one day and has its own capacity. Give each clinic slot one place, so one patient books each time.

Durations are examples: set your own. The price field is optional; leave it empty if you don't want an amount shown.

Open clinic slots in the window between home visits, such as late morning or early evening, on the weekdays you're at the practice. Slots repeat each week on the weekdays you choose until an end date, so a regular clinic takes a few minutes to set up. Slots of different services can overlap, so if you open blood tests and dressings at the same time, check you can't be booked for both at once, or give each a different window.

Some needs can't wait for a booking. Keep a short walk-in window at the end of the clinic and say so in the description, or leave a few times unopened so you can add a patient yourself. Book's online form isn't for urgent care, so say in the description what patients should do if they need help urgently.

The booking form takes first name, last name, email and phone, plus an optional note that reaches you in the new booking email and appears in the patient's calendar file. Say in each service description what to bring, such as the prescription, the medication to inject, dressings if prescribed, and any ID you need. Since the note appears in the calendar file, ask patients not to write health details there; you'll see the prescription at the visit.

If you take fasting blood tests, open a separate service for the first slots of the morning, and say that patients should follow the instructions on their request form. Plan the last one so the samples reach the lab within the time it sets.

A course of injections or a dressing every two days means a series of visits. After the first visit, book the following ones yourself from your calendar; first and last name are required, email and phone optional, and the patient receives a confirmation with a calendar file if you enter their email. Book doesn't send reminders, so the calendar file helps the patient keep track.

Book has one booking page per business and no staff field. If several nurses share the practice, give each nurse their own clinic service, such as "Clinic with Claire, Tuesday", so the bookings list shows who sees whom.

Put the booking link on the practice door, on your answering machine message and on the card you give patients. Doctors and pharmacists nearby can also pass it on with a prescription. A QR code in the waiting room lets a patient book the next visit before leaving, without calling the practice during your rounds.

Patients can't move or cancel bookings online: they call the practice, and you move the visit from your bookings list. Rescheduling works across services, so a dressing can move to the longer slot if it turns out to be complex. If you have to cancel a clinic, tell each patient yourself, since Book doesn't email clients about changes. Your bookings sync with Google, iPhone or Mac calendars. Book costs €5/month, everything included: unlimited services and bookings, no commission, no contract.