Booking is the thing you'll do most, and the details you add now decide what the patient gets told and what the invoice looks like later. The form is quick; the choices in it matter.
Open the form
On the calendar, select an empty time in a practitioner's column and the New Appointment form opens with that practitioner, date and start time filled in. Or select New at the top and fill everything in yourself. The form is the same either way.
Fill it in
Patient
Start typing a name, date of birth or phone number and pick the patient. If they're new, select Quick Add beside the search and enter their name, date of birth, phone and email; they're saved as a patient and picked for this booking.
Practitioner and Appointment Type
Each type is listed with its length, such as Physio – 45 min (45 min), and choosing one sets the end time. Only types the practitioner is linked to are offered; if the one you need is missing, an administrator links it on the practitioner's settings or the appointment type's Practitioners list.
Case (optional)
If the patient has open cases, you can attach the visit to one, so it appears in the case and counts toward its appointment limit. The form warns you after saving if the case is now over its limit, for example 'Knee rehab' now has 11 appointments, over its limit of 10; the booking still goes ahead.
Date, From and To
Times come in the clinic's slot size. Lengthen or shorten the visit by changing To.
Repeat
Leave No repeat for a single visit. For a standing appointment choose Daily, Weekly, Bi-weekly or Monthly and set Repeat Until. Every occurrence is created now, each as its own appointment that can be moved or canceled on its own.
Notes
Anything the practitioner should know before the visit. The patient doesn't see this.
Save
You'll see Appointment created and the card appears on the calendar.
Warnings you may see before it saves
Some are hard stops; the form keeps the message at the top until you change something:
- This patient already has an appointment 10:00–10:45 at Riverside. The same patient can't be in two places, even at another location; move or cancel the other one first.
- This practitioner already has an appointment 10:00–10:45 at Riverside. Pick another time or practitioner. Canceled appointments don't count.
- This practitioner cannot perform this appointment type. The link is missing; see step 2 above.
Others are soft. The form lists them and offers Book anyway, because sometimes the practitioner really has agreed to come in early: a clinic closure that day (The clinic is closed that day: Christmas 2026), the practitioner's day off, a time outside their working hours, during their break, or over an unavailable block (Overlaps Leave (14:00–16:00)). Think before overriding a closure or leave: the practitioner won't see a reminder that they weren't meant to be working.
What happens after you save
- The patient is sent the appointment type's confirmation by email and SMS, if the type has those templates linked and the patient's automatic messages allow them. SMS needs credit; with none, the confirmation goes by email only. Any patient forms linked to the type go out with the confirmation.
- The visit's price is fixed at booking from the appointment type's billing. Changing the type's price later doesn't change appointments already booked.
- Reminders go out on the schedule set in the reminder templates, and a follow-up after the visit if one is linked.
- The patient can cancel from the link in their confirmation until the clinic's minimum notice period; see Cancel an appointment.
If no time suits the patient yet, select Waitlist on the same form instead of saving. Their details, preferred practitioner and type are kept and you'll see Added to the waitlist; see Manage the waitlist.