Why this happens
Short-notice bookings. The main reminder goes 24 hours before the appointment. If someone books less than 24 hours ahead, that time has passed, so they only get the later reminder. When one practice asked us to check, every patient who only got the 30-minute reminder had booked less than a day ahead.
The 30-minute reminder depends on how you send reminders.
By text (SMS): patients get a reminder 24 hours before and another 30 minutes before, for any type of appointment.
By NHS App or email: the 30-minute message is only sent for video appointments, because it carries the link to join.
Reminders turned off for an appointment type. New appointment types don't send reminders until you turn them on.
A clinic cancelled in EMIS. If you cancel a whole session in EMIS rather than the individual appointments, Hero may not hear about it and patients can still get reminders. Cancel each appointment first, then remove the session.
What you can do
Turn reminders on or off, or change how they're sent
Go to Settings > Appointments > Appointment types.
Find the appointment type and choose Options > Edit.
Check Attendance (Face to face, Telephone or Video) is right.
Under Appointment reminders, choose one of:
Do not send reminders
Send using SMS (only for practices with their own Firetext account)
Send using email
Send using NHS App (with fallback to email, or text if there's no email)
Save.
Change the timing
Practices can't change reminder timing themselves. Contact us. For example, we can stop the 30-minute text and keep the 24-hour one. Earlier reminders (48 hours, 72 hours or 7 days before) are available for some practices; we switch them on for you.
When to contact us
Use the support form, with an example appointment and its date, if:
an appointment booked more than a day ahead got no 24-hour reminder
patients are getting reminders for appointments you cancelled
you want reminder timings changed