Your Website Is Not a Brochure: Make It Reduce Calls and Protect Reception
GP practice websites are no longer online leaflets; they are the front door to NHS care for many patients. A brochure-style site increases calls, frustrates patients, and risks non-compliance with NHS and accessibility standards. A task-focused homepage, designed around what patients need to do in one tap, can meaningfully reduce pressure on reception and improve access.
ClinicWeb’s approach is simple: design your homepage as a task hub, build it to NHS and WCAG standards, and update the priority tasks seasonally—at a price practice owners can live with.
From Brochure to Task Hub
Why brochure sites fail GP practices
Traditional agencies often sell “beautiful brochure sites”: full-width banners, carousels, stock images and long welcome text. For a GP surgery, this causes several problems:
- Key actions (appointments, prescriptions, test results) are pushed below the fold
- Patients cannot quickly see “how do I…?” and default to phoning reception
- Carousels and decorative images introduce accessibility barriers and confusion
- Pages look good on desktop but are hard to use on mobiles, where most patients now access the site
- Content becomes out of date, creating clinical and reputational risk
NHS England now explicitly recommends avoiding unnecessary banners and focusing on clear links to core tasks, with concise, verb-led link text like “Request an appointment” or “Order repeat prescription”. This is usability and accessibility guidance—not design opinion.
What a task hub looks like
A task hub homepage is built around actions, not marketing messages. It prioritises:
- Clear “front door” actions at the top of the page
- Simple language and NHS-style patterns so patients recognise how to use the site
- Mobile-first layout, tested on real devices used by patients
- Accessibility by design, meeting at least WCAG 2.1 AA
Instead of a rotating slideshow, the first screen a patient sees should be a small number of large, clear buttons that answer:
- “How do I contact the surgery?”
- “How do I get an appointment or clinical advice?”
- “How do I get my repeat prescription?”
- “How do I see my results or records?”
- “How do I register, change details, or request admin help?”
ClinicWeb’s templates start with this task-first structure and then customise wording, routing and prominence based on each practice’s processes and local demand.
The Five One-Tap Actions to Feature
Your homepage should make the five most common patient tasks available in one tap from the first screen—especially on mobile. These should be large, contrast-compliant buttons with clear verbs and no jargon. Core one-tap actions
Request an appointment or clinical help
- Order a repeat prescription Get test results and view records
- Contact the practice
- Register or manage admin requests
Below is how ClinicWeb typically designs around each. Request an appointment or clinical help
- One-tap access to your agreed route: online consultation tool, NHS App, phone call options for those who cannot use digital.
- Clear explanation of:
- Same-day/urgent requests
- Routine requests
- Home visits (if applicable)
- Plain English, with a short text summary above the button so patients understand what will happen next.
Order a repeat prescription
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Direct button to your preferred route:
- NHS App
- Patient Access or other online services
- Secure web form as a fallback where necessary
- Brief do/don’t list:
- Do order at least X working days before you run out
- Don’t use this route for acute/new medication requests
- Clear signposting away from phone lines for repeat requests, to protect reception. Get test results and view records
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One-tap to:
- NHS App login (for results and records)
- Local instructions if you still use phone/face-to-face for specific result types
- Short copy explaining:
- When results are usually available
- How you will contact patients for abnormal results
- When patients should call if they are worried
Contact the practice
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Button that lands on a clear, structured “Contact us” page:
- Phone numbers and opening hours
- eConsult/online consultation link for admin/clinical queries (if used)
- Practice address, map, and access information (ramps, hearing loop, etc.)
- Separate medical emergencies copy (“Call 999” / “Call 111”) to reduce inappropriate calls to reception. Register or manage admin requests
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One-tap options such as:
- Register with the practice (NHS registration form or online registration)
- Change personal details
- Request letters or sick notes (fit notes)
- Non-NHS services (forms, fees, medicals)
- By surfacing these admin pathways, you channel non-clinical calls away from reception and into structured, trackable routes.
How ClinicWeb implements one-tap design
- Large, high-contrast buttons with verb-led labels (“Request an appointment”) to meet NHS content style and WCAG link-text guidance.
- Limited primary navigation (e.g. 5–6 main menu items) so users are not overwhelmed.
- On-site search tuned to show these core tasks before static information pages.
- Tested with diverse user groups, including people with lower digital confidence and those using assistive technologies.
Seasonal Updates That Matter
Patient demand is highly seasonal. Your homepage should flex to reflect that; a static “welcome” image cannot.
Why seasonal changes reduce calls
When demand for certain tasks spikes, making those tasks more visible online channels patients away from phones toward self-service. Examples include:
- Flu and COVID vaccination campaigns
- Winter respiratory illnesses and increased acute demand
- Bank holiday closures
- Ramadan fasting guidance for long-term conditions
- University term times (new student registrations)
- Summer travel vaccinations and fit-to-fly letters
If patients cannot see quickly how to act during these periods, they default to calling—often multiple times.
ClinicWeb’s seasonal update model
Instead of redesigning the entire site, ClinicWeb updates specific elements:
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Seasonal “sixth tile”
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Temporary homepage tile for key campaigns: “Book your flu jab”, “Christmas opening hours”, “Register as a new student”.
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Automatically removed or replaced after the period ends.
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Homepage alerts Short, non-intrusive banners (not full promotional graphics) for:
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System outages
- Change of online consultation hours
- New telephone systems or queueing changes
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Plain text, accessible, and screen-reader friendly.
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Content refresh cycles Quarterly review of:
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Appointment information (e.g. same-day demand, new triage models)
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Ensures you avoid outdated instructions that generate confused calls.
Case example: winter pressure reduction
A London practice implemented a winter campaign tile, “Coughs, colds and sore throats – get advice online,” linking to NHS-approved self-care content and its online consultation tool for safety-netting. Over December–February, they observed:
- Fewer “can I see a doctor for a cold?” reception calls
- More symptom-checker completions and pharmacy self-care advice
- Faster phone access for genuinely urgent problems
Measure Calls Saved – Not Pages Viewed
Traditional website reporting focuses on traffic: sessions, bounce rate, pages per visit. For a GP practice, this is almost irrelevant. Your key metric is reduction in avoidable reception calls while maintaining or improving patient outcomes and satisfaction.
What to measure instead
Call volumes and reasons
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Track:
- Total inbound calls per week
- Peak time call volumes
- Call reasons (appointments, prescriptions, results, registration, admin)
- Simple tally sheets or call reason tagging on phone systems can provide this data. Digital task completion
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Monitor:
- Number of online consultation submissions
- Repeat prescription requests via digital channels (NHS App, online services)
- Registration forms completed online
- Fit note and admin request forms submitted
Before-and-after comparisons
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Make a baseline before the new site or new homepage layout:
- Calls per day by reason
- Proportion of appointments requested by phone vs online
- Number of prescription requests received by phone or in person
- Compare after:
- Launch of a new task hub homepage
- Introduction of one-tap buttons
- Specific seasonal campaigns Staff feedback
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Regularly ask reception teams:
- Which questions they answer repeatedly
- Which requests could be self-served online
- Whether information on the site matches “how we actually work”
This qualitative feedback often highlights quick wins: a missing link, unclear wording, or out-of-date process that is driving unnecessary calls.
How ClinicWeb supports call-focused measurement
Practical measurement approach
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Integrate simple, privacy-safe analytics configured to:
- Track clicks on key task buttons (appointment, prescription, results, registration, contact)
- Track use of search terms (e.g. many searches for “fit note” indicates you should surface that on the homepage)
- Align web analytics with call data:
- For example, a rise in “repeat prescription” button clicks combined with a fall in prescription-related calls is strong evidence of success. Reporting you can act on
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Short, quarterly summaries highlight:
- Top used actions
- Underused pages or tools (e.g. an online consultation tool buried in the menu)
- Opportunities to simplify content or navigation
The goal is not “more page views” but more problems solved online, fewer queues on the phone, and more time for reception to support patients who genuinely need human help.
See What You Pay – Up Front
Many practices have been burned by opaque pricing, setup fees buried in contracts, and expensive “extras” every time they need a small change. For NHS primary care, this is neither sustainable nor acceptable.
What transparent pricing should look like
Clear scope – no surprises
- A fixed price that includes:
- Design and build using NHS-compliant components and WCAG 2.1 AA standards
- Migration of essential content from your old site
- Configuration of the five one-tap actions to match your processes
- Initial staff training on how to update basic content
- A simple breakdown of what is not included, and the cost if you need it:
- Complex custom integrations
- Non-standard tools or third-party systems
- Additional languages or microsites
Predictable ongoing costs
- Transparent monthly or annual fee covering:
- Hosting, backups and security updates
- Keeping templates aligned with NHS England guidance as it evolves
- Regulatory changes such as new accessibility requirements or NHS branding updates
- Optional add-ons, clearly priced:
- Seasonal campaign artwork/copy
- Additional training sessions
- PCN-wide templates or multiple practice roll-outs
No penalty for being compliant
- Accessibility, use of NHS design components, and responsive design should be standard—not premium add-ons.
- Content accessibility checks and the ability to publish a compliant accessibility statement should be included as part of the core offer.
How ClinicWeb approaches pricing for GP practices
See-what-you-pay model
- Published price bands based on:
- Single practice vs group / PCN
- Number of sites and level of content migration needed
- Clear “what’s in the box” documentation:
- Task hub homepage with five one-tap actions
- WCAG 2.1 AA compliant templates
- NHS look-and-feel alignment where appropriate
- Basic analytics setup focused on task usage, not vanity metrics
Case example: multi-site PCN
A PCN with five practices moved from separate, inconsistent brochure sites to a shared ClinicWeb template configured per practice. With a transparent per-practice fee and PCN-level discount:
- Each practice got its own tailored homepage and content
- The PCN could see aggregated analytics on which tasks patients used most
- Seasonal campaigns were updated once and reused across all sites, lowering total cost
Practical, Actionable Steps for Your Practice
1. Audit your current homepage
Look at your site on a mobile phone and ask:
- Can a new patient:
- Request an appointment in one tap?
- Order a repeat prescription in one tap?
- Find results/records in one tap?
- See how to contact you in one tap?
- Register or request admin help in one tap?
- Are there large banners or slideshows pushing content down?
- Is the language plain, with verbs first (“Request an appointment”)?
If you answer “no” to any of these, you have clear priorities.
2. Talk to reception
Ask your reception and admin teams:
- What are the top 5 reasons for calls that could be handled online?
- Which questions do you answer repeatedly every day?
- Do the website instructions match your real-world processes?
Use this to decide which actions should be most prominent on the homepage.
3. Prioritise accessibility and NHS standards
Check that your site:
- Meets at least WCAG 2.1 AA (or your supplier can confirm this)
- Uses clear headings, large enough text, good colour contrast, and alt text on images
- Avoids PDFs where possible, using HTML pages instead
- Includes a current accessibility statement
If not, move accessibility from “nice to have” to “non-negotiable”—it is a legal requirement and a patient safety issue.
4. Define your seasonal calendar
Work with your clinical and management team to map:
- Winter pressures and flu/COVID campaigns
- Bank holiday periods
- Local registration spikes (e.g. new student intake)
- Any major service changes (new online consultation system, phone changes, branch closure)
Schedule homepage updates around these milestones so your website always reflects what patients most need to know right now.
5. Set up basic measurement
- Establish a baseline:
- Weekly call volumes and reasons
- Online consultation submissions
- Online repeat prescription requests
- After moving to a task hub homepage, track:
- Changes in call volumes
- Changes in use of key buttons and forms
- Review quarterly and adjust homepage priorities accordingly.
ClinicWeb builds these review points into its service, but you can also do this internally with simple spreadsheets and your phone system reports.
Conclusion and Next Steps
A GP practice website that behaves like a glossy brochure is not just outdated—it actively harms access, increases pressure on reception, and risks non-compliance with NHS usability and accessibility guidance. By rethinking your homepage as a task hub, you can:
- Give patients the five key actions they need in a single tap
- Reduce avoidable calls and protect your reception team
- Stay compliant with WCAG and NHS digital standards
- Communicate seasonal priorities clearly and safely
- See exactly what you’re paying for, and why
Key takeaways
- Your homepage’s job is not to look impressive—it is to help patients complete tasks quickly and independently.
- The five one-tap actions (appointments, prescriptions, results/records, contact, registration/admin) should dominate the first screen on mobile.
- Seasonal updates are not cosmetic; they are a crucial lever to manage demand and signpost safe care.
- Success should be measured in calls saved and tasks completed online, not page views.
- Transparent, up-front pricing aligned with NHS standards gives practices confidence and predictability.
Next steps for your practice
- Review your current site against the five one-tap actions.
- Involve reception and patients in identifying pain points.
- Decide whether to retrofit your existing site or move to a task-focused, NHS-compliant template such as ClinicWeb’s.
- Plan a 12-month seasonal content calendar aligned with your demand patterns.
- Put in place simple call and digital usage tracking to monitor impact.
By making these changes, your website stops being a static brochure and becomes what it should always have been: a safe, accessible, and efficient digital front door that genuinely reduces workload and improves patient care.