Match podiatry appointments to the practice’s service rules

Prepare the service-to-diary mapping

List the services your practice wants customers to arrange directly. A routine return visit and a specialist consultation may need different durations, staff or equipment. Avoid using one generic appointment type for every enquiry.

• Map approved service names to duration, practitioner and resource requirements.
• Identify which requests need clinical staff before a slot is offered.
• Use the practice’s approved recall list and suppress invitations for people already booked.

Arrange the visit within those rules

Ask whether the customer is requesting an existing routine return visit or a different service. Use the agreed record and administrative questions to route it. If suitability is unclear, capture the request for the practice rather than inferring the appointment from symptoms.

Check all required resources, save the appointment and confirm its type and location. Where a deposit applies, explain the terms and connect the verified payment status to the booking.

Test a request the catalogue cannot resolve

Use an example asking for a specialist procedure when only routine visits are enabled. The assistant should pass the request to the practice, not squeeze it into a short routine slot.

• Try a free practitioner time where the required resource is unavailable.
• Cancel a visit and check that obsolete reminders stop.
• Ask to change a clinically approved return interval and confirm staff review.

Measure booking accuracy

Review correct appointment types, attendance, recall duplication and staff time correcting bookings. Compare equivalent periods and allow for changes in practitioner capacity. Keep claimed value tied to completed administrative work and visits, using the practice’s actual costs.

Continue with a related guide