Enhancements & Tools for NHS Appointments

Our core digital solutions are designed to make healthcare more accessible, efficient and patient centred. Alongside Foundation, FootFall and Healthcare Apps, we provide a range of powerful enhancements and tools that take your service to the next level. These add-ons are built to save time, reduce pressure on staff and deliver a smoother experience for patients when booking or managing NHS appointments. Best of all - both are available free of charge for FootFall customers in NHS England.

Faster patient access

Reduced staff workload

Streamlined NHS appointments

Improved care efficiency

Patient Digital Assistant - supporting NHS appointments

Your always on digital helper.

The Patient Digital Assistant is a smart, conversational ChatBot created for primary healthcare. It sits on your practice website and gives patients instant answers to common queries, guiding them towards services and helping with NHS appointments without needing to call the practice.

Patients benefit from:

24/7 NHS online patient access to trusted information
Quick signposting to services, forms and NHS appointments
Peace of mind through accurate responses

Practices benefit from:

Reduced inbound calls, easing pressure on reception staff
More time to focus on complex cases instead of routine NHS patient access queries
Improved patient satisfaction thanks to faster NHS online support

How it works: The Patient Digital Assistant uses pre-configured, healthcare specific questions and answers. It provides reliable NHS online support, ensuring patients can access guidance and NHS appointments anytime.

Referral Flow - streamlining NHS appointments through Pharmacy First

Streamlined referrals, simplified.

Referral Flow is designed to help practices make the most of the NHS Pharmacy First scheme, ensuring patients are referred quickly and effectively to the right care. By integrating into the FootFall dashboard, it highlights when a patient is eligible for referral and provides proxy forms for receptionists if a patient calls the practice.

Patients benefit from:

Faster access to treatment via local pharmacies
Reduced waiting for GP NHS appointments
Clearer next steps through reliable NHS online support

Practices benefit from:

Automatic highlighting of eligible patients within the FootFall dashboard
Proxy referral forms to manage requests by phone
More efficient use of NHS appointments, keeping GPs free for patients who need them most

How it works: When patients submit requests online, Referral Flow flags eligibility for NHS Pharmacy First. Reception teams can then action the referral, supporting NHS online patient access while improving the flow of NHS appointments.

Online Appointment Booking

Streamline patient access with our new online booking feature.

We’re excited to introduce a powerful new feature available to all Silicon Practice customers: online appointment booking.

This new functionality lets your team send self booking links to patients or embed online booking directly into your website – making it easier than ever for patients to book the care they need, while reducing the admin burden on your staff.

Whether you’re inviting a patient for a routine check up or opening up online bookings for specific services, our system ensures the right patients access the right appointments.

Key Features

Generate Booking Links

Create fully configurable booking links that support:

Specific slot types
Designated clinicians
Custom time windows or appointment rules

Booking links can be shared via SMS, email, your website, or embedded within patient communications, giving patients simple, direct access to available appointments.

Real Time Integration with EMIS and TPP

All appointments booked online are automatically written back into your EMIS or TPP system – ensuring accurate, up to date scheduling and preventing double bookings.

Why use these tools?

For Patients: faster NHS online patient access, shorter waits for NHS appointments and clearer NHS online support
For Staff: less time on routine queries, easier management of NHS appointments and improved workflows
For Organisations: smarter use of resources, greater efficiency and stronger alignment with NHS patient access priorities

Both enhancements integrate seamlessly with your existing Silicon Practice solution – at no extra cost for FootFall customers in NHS England – so you can start seeing the benefits straight away.

Fantastic service as usual - notice up on website within 13 minutes of email being sent!

I cannot speak more highly of this company and thank them enough for the support that they provide to us. They make my job that little bit easier by taking away from me jobs giving me back time. They are so quick to action any requests. What a wonderful team and service thank you all.

Always prompt and efficient Helpdesk support - very impressive as always.

We are very happy with our website! The Silicon Practice team is excellent at responding and very helpful. Our website is easy to navigate, and Silicon Practice is constantly reviewing and updating as appropriate. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this company.

Superb and very quick service for a few changes I wanted to make to our website - delighted.

Having worked with Silicon Practice for many years, I have found them to be extremely supportive in the management of our website.

I have worked in primary care for nearly 30 years and this is by far the best website supplier I have used. Firstly it was very easy to set up, the system is flexible for your own use. The team are very responsive to requests and most importantly are compliant with all regulation and standards. With general practice becoming ever more complex, it's one area I can have confidence in and easily manage.

Ready to explore how these tools can help your organisation?

Get in touch with us to see how we can collaborate.

Experience the future healthcare

Join practices using FootFall, today

Silicon Practice News and Resources

Deep dive into the latest trends and insights shaping the primary care industry. Explore practical resources and expert advice to stay ahead of the curve and navigate the ever-evolving landscape with Silicon Practice.