Was the link sent to one named patient?
Yes, in a message to that patient → it's a patient link: one booking, expires after the time you picked.
Yes, as part of a campaign → it's a campaign link: one booking per patient, expires after the campaign's expiry plus any reminders.
No, it's on your website, a poster or in care navigation → it's a public booking link: usually unlimited bookings, often no expiry.
Patient link | Campaign link | Public booking link | |
|---|---|---|---|
Who can use it | One patient | One patient each | Anyone |
How many bookings | One | One | Usually unlimited (you can set a limit) |
When it expires | The time you pick when sending: 24 hours, 48 hours, 7 days, 14 days (default) or never | The campaign's expiry, extended to cover any scheduled reminders [VERIFY: campaign expiry choices] | Only if you set one; most never expire |
Where you manage it | The message you sent | The campaign | The booking links list |
"Invite link has already been used". Patient and campaign links allow one booking. Once the patient has booked, opening the link again (or pressing back) shows this message, with a note to contact the practice if they think it's wrong. Public links only show it if you've set a use limit and it's been reached.
"Link expired". The link has passed its expiry date, or someone at the practice switched it off. Public links can be expired early from the booking links list. If a link has been used and has also expired, the patient sees "Link expired".
When we looked at one large campaign in October 2026, every link patients reported as "expired" had already been used to book. None had actually run out of time.
Work out which kind of link it is (above).
Check EMIS or the Hero diary to see whether the patient has already booked. If they have, reassure them that the appointment stands.
If they haven't booked and the link has expired or been used, send them a new link.
For campaigns, pick an expiry long enough for patients to respond. Scheduled reminders extend it automatically.
For your website or posters, use a public booking link with no use limit and no expiry.
What you see in Hero: public booking links show an Expired or Deactivated label in the booking links list. Hero doesn't show how many times a link has been used, so to check whether a patient used theirs, look for their booking.
A patient was told the link has expired or been used but has no appointment in EMIS or Hero.
A patient booked, saw an error, and you can't find the booking.
Lots of patients from one campaign report problems with their links shortly after it was sent.
Tell us the kind of link, the campaign or link name, roughly when it was sent, and an example patient.
My booking link shows no slots, or a doctor or site is missing
What an "Incomplete booking" alert means
