Pharmacists: booking vaccination appointments online

Give each vaccine you offer its own bookable service, open short slots at the times a trained pharmacist is free to vaccinate, and set each slot's places to how many people that pharmacist can see in it. Open slots in step with your stock, especially in seasonal campaigns, and ask at booking only for the practical details you need. Customers pick a time instead of queuing at the counter, and your team can plan vaccinations around dispensing instead of interrupting it.

Seasonal flu, travel vaccines and other vaccinations your pharmacy offers don't take the same time or the same preparation. Separate services let each have its own slot length and description, and show you before the day which vaccines are coming, so the right doses are ready. 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.

Lengths and places are examples: set your own, and include only the vaccinations your pharmacy is authorised and trained to give. The price field is yours to fill or leave empty, according to the rules that apply to each vaccine.

Two formats work. Short one-place slots, every ten minutes for example, give each customer an exact time. A longer session slot with several places, such as three people per half hour, lets customers arrive within a window while you control the total. Places match the number of people one pharmacist can vaccinate, observe and record in that time. When a slot is full, it leaves your page.

During a seasonal campaign, demand can arrive all at once. Open slots for the weeks you're sure of stock, and add more as deliveries are confirmed rather than opening the whole season on day one. Slots repeat each week on the weekdays you choose until an end date, so a campaign pattern, such as weekday afternoons and Saturday mornings, takes a few minutes to set. Say in the description when the campaign runs and who it's for, according to the guidance that applies to you.

Put vaccination slots at times when a second pharmacist covers dispensing, or in quieter hours. If only one pharmacist is on, keep vaccination slots spaced so the counter is never left for long. Slots of different services can overlap on Book, so check that two vaccination services don't run at the same time with one vaccinator. If two pharmacists vaccinate side by side in separate rooms, you can either double the places in each slot or give each pharmacist their own service, so you know who sees whom.

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 customer's calendar file. Keep the note for practical details, such as which vaccine if a service covers several, or a need for step-free access. Health questions and consent belong in your pharmacy's usual questionnaire on the day, not in the note.

Check the day's bookings in your bookings list in the morning, note any vaccine changes since booking, prepare the doses and the consultation room, and keep a few minutes after each vaccination for observation and records. For a vaccine that needs a second dose, book it yourself before the customer leaves: first and last name are required, email and phone optional, and the customer receives a confirmation with a calendar file if you enter their email. Book doesn't send reminders, so that date in their calendar helps them come back.

If a delivery is late, move the affected customers to later slots from your bookings list and call each one yourself, since Book doesn't email clients about changes and customers can't move bookings online. Your bookings sync with Google, iPhone or Mac calendars. Book costs €5/month, everything included: unlimited services and bookings, no commission, no contract.