A missed appointment needs a next step, not a note.
When a patient fails to attend, the appointment is gone but the patient is not. Clinqly records the FTA, prepares the message that offers them another time and checks it may go. Reception sends it, and keeps the judgement about repeat non-attendance.
Where a missed appointment goes wrong
The FTA itself is recorded. What usually falls through is everything that should happen after it.
Nobody owns the rebook
The FTA is marked in the diary, and the call to offer another time waits for a quiet moment that never comes.
The message goes to the wrong place
A patient who only ever replies on WhatsApp is sent an email they will not read.
Repeat FTAs are spotted late
The third missed appointment is noticed only when someone scrolls back through the record.
Policy is applied unevenly
One receptionist waives a deposit and another does not, and the practice cannot show what it told the patient.
After an FTA, before and after
| Moment | Without Clinqly | With Clinqly |
|---|---|---|
| The appointment is missed | Marked in the diary, then left | Recorded against the patient's journey, with a message prepared |
| Offering another time | A call when reception has a minute | One click: Clinqly checks the patient may be contacted and sends it on their channel |
| They reply | Another back-and-forth to find a time | The reply arrives in the same conversation, ready to book |
| They miss again | Noticed by chance | The history is in one place for whoever applies your policy |
What Clinqly prepares, and what reception decides
Clinqly keeps moving
- Records the missed appointment against the patient's journey
- Writes a short message offering another time, on the channel the patient uses
- Checks before sending: opt-outs, a colleague handling the conversation, sending hours and how many times you have already tried
- Keeps every attempt and reply in one conversation
- Sends confirmation and reminder messages for appointments booked through Clinqly
Your team keeps
- Deciding to send the rebooking message, which is always a person's choice
- Your FTA policy, including any deposit for private appointments
- Conversations with patients who miss repeatedly
- Anything involving NHS contract rules or removal from a list
Before you change your FTA process
Software should support your policy, not invent one.
- Is your FTA policy written down, and applied the same way by everyone?
- Do NHS and private appointments follow different rules in your policy?
- Who decides what happens after a second or third FTA?
- Which channel does each patient actually reply on?
- Can you show what you told a patient, and when?
Alongside your diary and your policy
Clinqly does not charge patients for missed appointments and does not decide your policy. For NHS patients in England, the BDA's guidance on non-attendance sets out what a practice may and may not do; your practice decides how it applies.
Rebooking needs a conversation to reply on, so a walk-in booked at the desk with no message thread is handed to a person. Where the diary lives in your PMS, reception books the new time there.
How Clinqly fits your systemsQuestions practices ask
Does Clinqly chase every no-show automatically?
No. Clinqly prepares the message and checks it may be sent, and a person sends it. Nothing goes out on a timer.
Can Clinqly charge patients for missed appointments?
No. Clinqly never takes payment for a missed appointment. Deposits for private bookings go through your practice's own Stripe account where you have set one up.
Will patients be messaged if they have opted out?
No. Every message is checked against opt-outs, sending hours and how many times the practice has already tried, immediately before it goes.
Does it reduce our FTA rate?
We do not claim a reduction. Clinqly makes sure every missed appointment gets a prompt, consistent next step, and shows you what happened after it.
Bring your FTA policy.
We'll walk through how Clinqly would support it, step by step, and where your team stays in charge.