2 lines to add to your appointment texts today

Two lines added to your appointment texts today can put a feedback link in front of every patient you see: one line in the reminder that goes out before the visit, and one line in a short message after it. Your messaging system already does the hard work of reaching patients reliably – these lines simply give those texts a second job.

Why the texts you already send are the best channel you have

Appointment texts get opened because patients need them – nobody ignores the message that says when their appointment is. That makes them the one channel where a feedback invitation is guaranteed to be seen. And the audience for the resulting reviews is real: 71% of patients check online reviews as the first step in finding a new doctor (Software Advice), and 76% of consumers regularly read online reviews when browsing local businesses (BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey 2023). Since NHS.uk closed its public star-ratings in 2025, your Google presence is where that reading happens.

Line 1: in the reminder, before the visit

The pre-visit line does not ask for anything. It plants one idea – that your practice listens – so the post-visit request lands as consistent rather than out of the blue. Add this to the end of your standard reminder:

• “After your visit, we’ll ask how it went – your feedback genuinely shapes how we work.”

So the full reminder reads: “Hi [first name], a reminder of your appointment at [practice name] on [date] at [time]. After your visit, we’ll ask how it went – your feedback genuinely shapes how we work.” One sentence, no link yet, no pressure.

Line 2: after the visit, with the link

The post-visit line is the ask itself. Send it the same day, while the visit is fresh:

• “Hi [first name], thanks for visiting [practice name] today. If you have 20 seconds, we’d value your feedback: [link]”

Keep it under 160 characters where you can, so it arrives as one clean text. The link should go to a single, simple page – one tap to a star rating – rather than a long raw Google URL. If it takes more than about 20 seconds from tap to done, fewer patients will finish, and the promise in your message stops being true.

The two rules that keep it honest

First, send the post-visit text to every patient you legitimately can – not just the ones the team thinks were happy. Selecting likely five-star patients while quietly skipping the rest is review gating, and it breaches Google’s review policy. Under the UK’s Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act – in force for reviews since April 2025, with CMA guidance in CMA208 – hiding negative reviews or selectively soliciting positive ones is a banned practice in its own right, not just a Google-policy issue. Second, never attach an incentive – no prize draws, no discounts, nothing in exchange for a review. That breaches the same policy and can get reviews removed. The wording above needs neither trick: a fair ask, made to everyone, at the right moment, is the whole method.

What to expect once the lines are live

Expect quiet consistency rather than a flood – a steady trickle of ratings that tracks the patients you actually see. No wording can promise a particular number of reviews, and anyone who promises otherwise is guessing. What the two lines guarantee is coverage: every patient, every visit, gets a genuine chance to tell you how it went. Some of that feedback will be critical – that is a feature. A patient who tells you privately about a bad experience today is a complaint you can fix this week instead of a one-star surprise next month.

And when public reviews arrive, reply to them briefly and politely, without ever confirming clinical details – businesses that respond to reviews are seen as 1.7× more trustworthy (Google/Ipsos). Two lines in your texts, one person replying: that is the entire system, and you can switch it on today.