Sign up now for a free trial of Appointment Booking until 31st December 2025
Appointment Booking is a feature of Surgery Assist, patients can book appointments directly through the chatbot following a secure verification using Hero Health's API Integration
Staff Experience
Request Appointment Booking here, we are currently running a free trial until 31st December 2025
We will then set up an initial meeting to gather your preferences
You will be provided a Hero Onboarding Form to complete with your practice information (ODS code, name, contact details) as well as EHR setup instructions,
or follow the guides below:
Once setup is complete, you'll receive:
Hero login credentials
API Key
Practice Group ID
Our Surgery Assist Build Team will integrate the API key into the admin portal and build your agreed appointment types into your digital assistant
Appointment Booking is live on your bot! This can be updated, changed or removed at any time in the Surgery Assist Portal following the guide below
Creating a Booking Resource
Manager Permissions Only
Our SA Build Team will implement appointments into your bot flow but if you would like to make any changes or add new types then follow the guide below
Navigate to Resources in the Surgery Assist Portal and select Booking Resources in the top right
Click Add in the top right hand corner and create a Booking Resource for your appointment type
Title - Internal Only, Name of Appointment Type
Practice - Select practice
Tags - Select Manage and create a tag for each of your appointment types, then select the appropriate Appointment Type for this resource
Select Fetch from Hero Health and toggle the appointment types you would like available from the selection, you can also configure the icons that appear in the chatbot interface
Click Create
Adding Booking Resource to your Flow
Manager Permissions Only
Navigate to the Bots section, select the three dots on your bot and Edit Bot, this will take you to the bot flow
The easiest way to find the section you require in the bot flow is to Ctrl + F and search a keyword
To add a Booking Resource as a tile, select the plus button and you will see a menu of cards, scroll down to the last tile and select Hero Health Integration
Name - booking.*insert booking type* e.g. booking.physio
Message - 'Please click below to book your appointment'
Booking Resource - Select the resource you made earlier for the appointment type
Save and Publish your changes, these can be updated, changed or removed at any time
Repeat the process for each booking type
Patient Experience
Non AI Route
Non AI Route
Once patients have selected continue on the initial message, they can select 'Appointments'
The patient can then select Book a Routine Appointment
The patient will be presented with the Appointment Types that have been created in the Surgery Assist Portal
Once the patient has selected the appointment type they will be provided a link to 'Book a (Surgery Name) (appointment type) appointment'
AI Route
AI Route
Once patients have selected continue on the initial message, they can select Ask a Question
Patients will then need to select 'yes' to the AI disclaimer message
The patient will now be able to write free text in the chatbot e.g. Can I book an appointment?
They will then be presented with the available appointment types for your surgery
Once the patient clicks on the appointment type the bot will present a screen with a list of available dates for your surgery for that specific appointment type
After the patient has selected their preferred date they will then be asked what time of day they would prefer with the option to go back a step if they would like a different date
Once the patient has selected time of day they will be shown a summary screen with surgery name, date, time preference, duration and location
After selecting confirm booking, the patient will be redirected to a confirmation page where they will be presented with the most suitable time for their preference or some alternative appointments below
The patient will then be prompted to provide either their NHS Login, NHS Number & DOB or name, DOB, sex & postcode so they can be identified
Once the patient has selected and filled out their details they will then be asked for a email or mobile to receive a security code
The patient will be presented with a final review of their appointment where they can select Confirm and book appointment
After the patient has booked their appointment, they will be shown a confirmation screen with the option to reschedule or cancel the appointment
