SMS Appointment Reminders for UK Dermatology Clinics

Etisia processes personal data under the EU GDPR. Under UK GDPR and PECR, your clinic stays responsible for its own lawful basis, for telling patients how their mobile number is used, and for honouring opt-outs, and ICO guidance explains what that involves. Keep SMS appointment-focused; clinical details (diagnoses, treatment plans) should be shared via phone call or secure patient portal, not SMS.

Yes. Frame messages around health urgency: "Early melanoma detection saves lives. Your appointment is tomorrow." or "Acne treatment works best with consistency." These health-focused messages counteract the "elective" perception and increase commitment.

Etisia sends automatic SMS appointment reminders from your Google Calendar. After a one-time setup, you keep booking in Google Calendar as usual, with the client’s mobile number in the appointment. You don’t open Etisia each time you book.

Your clients get an ordinary text message: no app and no account. Etisia isn’t a booking system, so clients keep booking with you the way they do now.

Probably not, if your booking system already texts your clients. Etisia is for businesses that keep their appointments in Google Calendar, and for those still using pen and paper.

Still using pen and paper? Etisia is an easy first step. Keep your appointments in a free Google Calendar and write the client’s full name in each one, plus their mobile number the first time. That’s all Etisia needs, and your calendar gets tidier for it: every appointment shows who’s coming. The reminders go out in the background, so there’s nothing to open or send each day.

If your booking tool copies appointments into Google Calendar with the client’s mobile number in the event title, description or location, Etisia can send reminders from those events. Switch off the tool’s own text reminders, so clients don’t get two.

There is no direct connection to booking systems: Etisia only reads Google Calendar.

Sign up with email or Google, connect Google Calendar (tick both calendar permissions), pick your appointment calendar, and choose Default settings or set your own times and wording. Tick the box to say you have your clients’ permission, and you’re done.

Default settings send one reminder the day before, with recommended wording that names your business.

Then use Add test appointment: Etisia adds an appointment with your name and number to the calendar and texts you its reminder straight away, free.

Yes, if you turn on the optional cancellation link. It’s off by default and available on every plan. Reminders and the booking message then include “Cancel at https://eti.is/aB3dE9.”

Your client opens the link, sees the appointment date, enters the mobile number the text went to and confirms. Etisia deletes the appointment from Google Calendar, stops its remaining reminders and emails you. The link only cancels: to move a visit, clients contact you.

If you delete an appointment yourself, its pending reminders stop.

Yes. Etisia’s Starter plan covers one calendar, Pro three and Team as many as you need. Each calendar has its own reminder times and wording, so you can keep one per team member or service.

Team also adds staff accounts: you invite staff by email, they connect their own calendars and share the team’s SMS credits, and you can see and edit their calendars.

With the recommended wording, your client gets: “Hello, you have an appointment with us tomorrow, 15 October 2026 at 14:30. Best regards, Glow Studio”. Your business name signs off the text.

You can pick another template or write your own (up to 1,600 characters). Etisia fills in the date and time, and can add the appointment’s location. The client’s name isn’t included, which keeps texts discreet on a lock screen.

Each calendar has one wording; the preview shows the finished text before you save.