01
Bookings by practitioner and type
Offers slots from your diary for the right practitioner, appointment type and site, allows the length each appointment needs and texts the confirmation and any forms.
AI receptionist for clinics
An AI receptionist for clinics that books patients and passes anything clinical to your team
When your practitioners are with patients and reception is checking someone in, the phone still rings. We build an AI receptionist for private GP clinics, physiotherapy, aesthetics clinics, opticians and vets that books and moves appointments, deals with reminder replies and after-hours calls, and hands every clinical question to a person.
Thanks, that’s with us.
A senior engineer reads every enquiry and will reply as soon as they can.
Want to take it further now?
Book a time that suits you, or send a message on WhatsApp.
- Never gives clinical advice: symptoms and treatment questions go to your clinicians, by rules they approve
- Books into your own system, by practitioner, appointment type and site
- Designed to support UK GDPR requirements for patient health data, with retention agreed in writing
1,000+
Clients served since 2020
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Test line
You hear it before your patients do
Technologies we build with
- OpenAI GPT
- Anthropic Claude
- Google Gemini
- Deepgram
- ElevenLabs
- Vapi
- Retell AI
- Price lists
- Clinic policies
- Insurer lists
- pgvector
- Cliniko
- Semble
- WriteUpp
- Pabau
- Optisoft
- ezyVet
- Twilio
- 3CX
- RingCentral
- SIP trunks
- SMS confirmations
- WhatsApp Business API
- Online forms
Quick answer
What does an AI receptionist do for a private clinic?
An AI receptionist for a clinic answers the clinic phone in natural speech and takes the calls that keep pulling your front desk away from the patients in front of them: booking new and follow-up appointments, moving and cancelling them, answering questions about prices, insurers and parking, and taking messages for practitioners. It works from your appointment book, so it offers real slots by practitioner, appointment type and site.
It also deals with the calls that reminders create. When a patient replies to a reminder text or rings to say they can’t make it, the receptionist rebooks them or frees the slot, and can offer that slot to someone on your cancellation list. After hours it books routine requests and gives the urgent route you have agreed, so evening callers reach something more useful than an answerphone.
Anything clinical goes to a person. If a caller describes symptoms, a reaction after treatment, a sudden change in their sight or a poorly animal, the receptionist asks only the screening questions your clinicians wrote and then transfers the call or gives your agreed route, such as your duty clinician, NHS 111 or 999. It never diagnoses or says a problem can wait. Patient health data is special category data under UK GDPR, so we agree with you what is recorded, where it is kept and who can read it. If you want to see the general product first, start with our AI receptionist page or try the missed call check.
What it handles
The clinic calls an AI receptionist can take
Every clinic runs its diary differently. These are the call types clinics usually hand over first, each set up around your own rules.
02
Rescheduling and cancellations
Moves or cancels appointments, explains your cancellation and deposit policy as you wrote it, and can offer the freed slot to patients on your waiting list.
03
No-show reminders and replies
Sends reminders through your existing system or ours, and handles the patients who reply or ring back to confirm, rebook or cancel, so the slot is not left empty.
04
After-hours calls
Books routine requests in the evening and at weekends, takes messages for the morning and gives callers with an urgent problem the out-of-hours route your clinic uses.
05
Clinical hand-off
Recognises symptoms, treatment reactions and requests for advice, asks only the questions your clinicians approved and transfers the call or passes a written summary to staff.
06
Prices, insurers and practical questions
Answers self-pay prices, which insurers you work with, what to bring, parking and access from information you approve, and says when a price depends on an assessment.
The phone during clinic
When everyone is with a patient, the phone rings out
Small clinics often have one person on the desk, or none while the practitioner is treating. Patients who want to book, rebook or ask a quick question end up in voicemail, and some ring another clinic.
Reception juggling the phone
- Calls go to voicemail while practitioners are in treatment
- Reception answers the phone while checking patients in and taking payments
- Patients who can’t make their appointment don’t get through, so they simply don’t come
- Evening callers hear an answerphone and book elsewhere
- The same price and insurer questions are answered many times a day
- Clinical questions are taken as rushed notes on a pad
With a clinic AI receptionist
- Routine bookings and changes are handled without tying up the desk
- Patients who need to cancel can do it on the call, and the slot can be offered again
- Reminder replies are dealt with rather than left in an inbox
- Evening and weekend calls reach something that can book or route them
- Price and insurer questions are answered from information you signed off
- Clinical questions reach a clinician with a clear written summary
See how it would work for your clinic
Book a free 30-minute video call. We’ll walk you through how an AI receptionist would handle your clinic’s calls, from first bookings to after-hours questions, and tell you honestly if it won’t help.
Examples
AI receptionist use cases for private clinics
Illustrative examples of what we build, not client results.
Same-day and routine appointments
Books routine GP appointments and blood tests, explains your self-pay prices and passes anyone describing chest pain, breathing problems or other red-flag symptoms to a clinician or tells them to call 999, using wording your doctors approved.
Aim: routine bookings handled while doctors keep clinical calls
Initial assessments and follow-ups
Books initial assessments and follow-up sessions with the right physio, asks whether the patient is self-pay or insured and records the insurer and authorisation details your team needs.
Aim: insured patients booked with the details billing needs
Consultations and deposits
Books consultations, explains your deposit and cancellation policy, texts a deposit link if you take one and transfers any caller reporting a reaction or problem after treatment to the practitioner straight away.
Aim: consultations booked on the first call, with aftercare concerns going to a practitioner
Eye tests and collections
Books eye tests and contact lens checks, answers questions about NHS and private tests from information you approve, takes glasses collection queries and passes sudden changes in vision to your optometrist or your agreed urgent route.
Aim: routine eye test calls handled, urgent eye symptoms routed to a clinician
Appointments and emergencies
Books vaccinations, check-ups and repeat prescription requests for your team to approve, and gives callers with an emergency the number for your duty vet or out-of-hours provider.
Aim: no owner with an emergency left listening to an answerphone
Confirm, rebook or cancel
Handles patients who reply to a reminder or ring back after one, rebooks them with the same practitioner where possible and offers the freed slot to your cancellation list.
Aim: fewer empty slots from patients who could not get through to cancel
Treatment courses
Books the next session in a course of treatment, explains your package prices and passes questions about pain or progress to the practitioner as a message.
Aim: courses of treatment rebooked without a phone chase
One number for several sites
Works out which site the caller uses, checks that site’s diary and follows that site’s own opening hours and urgent arrangements.
Aim: the same call handling at every site
How we work
How we build an AI receptionist for your clinic
Six steps, with your clinicians involved wherever a call touches symptoms or treatment. You hear it on a test line before any patient does.
Discovery
On a video call we look at when calls peak and list the call types: bookings, changes, reminder replies, prices and anything clinical. We agree what always goes to a person.
Week 1Design
We write the call flows and, with your clinicians, the screening questions and the wording for urgent calls. A clinician signs off every clinical rule before it is built.
Weeks 1 to 2Build
We connect the phone line and your booking system, or a workaround where the system has no access route, and set up recording, retention and access for patient data.
Weeks 2 to 3Train
We load your prices, policies, insurers and clinic details, then test it on realistic calls, including anxious, confused and unhappy patients.
Weeks 3 to 4Launch
It usually starts on overflow and after-hours calls while your team reads every call summary, then takes on more once you are happy with it.
Typically weeks 4 to 5Optimise
We review transcripts, update prices and policies when they change and adjust hand-off wording with your clinicians. Optional monthly support covers this.
Ongoing
Clear scope · Regular demos · Full handover
Is it right for your clinic?
When an AI receptionist suits a clinic, and when it doesn’t
A clinic with a quiet phone and a full-time receptionist may not need one. If that is you, we’ll say so.
Worth it when…
- Calls ring out while practitioners are treating
- Your receptionist also checks patients in and takes payments
- Patients ring in the evening to book or rebook
- Your booking system offers online booking or an integration route
- Your clinicians are willing to agree written hand-off rules
Not worth it when…
- Someone already answers nearly every call at every time of day
- Your clinicians want to speak to every caller who mentions a symptom
- Your diary can’t be connected and you won’t use a workaround
- Your patients strongly prefer a receptionist they know by name
- You want it to tell patients what treatment they need (it won’t)
Your options
AI receptionist vs extra reception hours vs outsourced call handling
Many clinics combine them: the AI takes routine and after-hours calls, and the team handles the patients in front of them and the calls that need a person.
| What matters | Custom AI receptionist | Extra reception hours | Outsourced call handling |
|---|---|---|---|
| Busy times | Can take several calls at once | One more line covered | Depends on the provider’s staffing |
| Books into your clinic system | Where an access route exists | Yes | Varies by provider |
| Clinical calls | Screens with your agreed questions, then hands off | Uses their own training and judgement | Follows the provider’s script |
| Knows your prices and policies | Answers from information you approved | Yes | From a script you supply |
| Evenings and weekends | Whenever you set | Only if someone works those hours | Depends on the plan |
| How you pay | Setup fee, optional monthly support, call usage | Wages, holiday cover and training | Per call, per minute or monthly |
Pricing
How much does an AI receptionist for a clinic cost?
The main cost drivers are the number of call types, how your booking system connects and whether it covers one site or several. You get a written quote with scope and exclusions agreed up front.
Free consultation
Free
30 minutes
We go through your call patterns, booking system and urgent arrangements on a video call, and follow up with a written estimate.
Get a quote →Clinic AI receptionist
From £1,500
Typically 3 to 5 weeks
Call flows, clinician-approved hand-off wording, price and policy knowledge, booking system connection, testing and launch on your number.
Get a quote →Monthly support
From £150/month
Optional retainer
Transcript reviews, price and policy updates, new call types and technical monitoring.
Get a quote →Prices exclude VAT. Call minutes, text messages and phone line charges are billed by the telephony and AI providers and estimated in your quote. Any charge your booking system supplier makes for integration access is separate.
Technology
What sits behind a clinic AI receptionist
Speech recognition turns the patient’s words into text, and we add the names of your treatments and practitioners to its vocabulary. A large language model, the kind of AI behind ChatGPT and Claude, works out what the caller needs. Retrieval over your own information (RAG) means price and policy answers come from documents you approve. Text-to-speech replies in a calm, clear voice, and APIs connect it to your appointment book. Because patient data is involved, we agree providers and hosting regions with you. The systems below are examples of what we can assess; what is possible depends on the access each one allows.
Understanding: language models
- OpenAI GPT
- Anthropic Claude
- Google Gemini
Voice
- Deepgram
- ElevenLabs
- Vapi
- Retell AI
Your clinic knowledge (RAG)
- Price lists
- Clinic policies
- Insurer lists
- pgvector
Clinic booking systems
- Cliniko
- Semble
- WriteUpp
- Pabau
- Optisoft
- ezyVet
Phone systems
- Twilio
- 3CX
- RingCentral
- SIP trunks
Messages to patients
- SMS confirmations
- WhatsApp Business API
- Online forms
Clinics we build for
Built for private clinics of every kind
What to ask, what to flag and who to route to changes with the type of clinic, so each one gets its own call flows.
Private GP clinicsAppointments, self-pay prices and clinician call-backs.Physiotherapy clinicsBookings by practitioner, insurer and self-pay questions.Aesthetics clinicsConsultations, deposits and aftercare concerns routed to practitioners.OpticiansEye tests, contact lens checks and collections.Veterinary practicesVaccinations, repeat prescriptions and out-of-hours routes.Chiropractic and osteopathyTreatment courses, package prices and follow-ups.Dental practicesCheck-ups, NHS and private fees, dental pain routed to clinicians.Healthcare providersHow we build software and AI for healthcare.
FAQ
Clinic AI receptionist FAQs
Straight answers to what buyers ask before they sign.
Still have a question?
Ask us directly. A senior engineer reads every question.
Ask about your projectCan an AI receptionist book into our clinic system?
Often, yes, but it depends on the access your system offers. Cliniko, Semble, Pabau and others provide an API or booking integration to different degrees; other systems need a workaround, such as booking through your online booking page or sending the request to reception to confirm. We check your system during discovery, before we quote.
Will the AI receptionist give patients clinical advice?
No. It is built never to diagnose, recommend treatment or say whether a problem can wait. When a caller describes symptoms or a reaction after treatment, it asks only the screening questions your clinicians approved and then transfers the call, passes a written summary to staff or gives your agreed route, such as NHS 111 or 999.
How does it help with no-shows?
In two ways. It sends reminders through your booking system or through ours, and it handles the patients who reply or ring back, so someone who can’t come can cancel or rebook on the call instead of not turning up. Freed slots can then be offered to patients on your cancellation list. We don’t promise a particular reduction, because that depends on your patients and your policy.
What happens with calls after the clinic closes?
It answers at the hours you choose. Routine requests are booked or taken as messages for the morning, and callers with an urgent problem are given the route you set, for example your duty clinician, your out-of-hours provider, NHS 111 or 999. Every urgent call is logged for your team.
How is patient health data handled?
As special category data under UK GDPR. We agree in writing what is recorded, where it is stored and for how long, use providers and hosting regions you approve, limit who can read transcripts and pass clinical details only to the systems that need them. The system is designed to support your UK GDPR requirements; your clinic remains the data controller and decides what is right for your patients.
Does it work for veterinary practices too?
Yes. The same approach suits vets: booking vaccinations and check-ups, taking repeat prescription requests for a vet to approve and giving owners with an emergency the number for your duty vet or out-of-hours provider. It never advises on an animal’s symptoms.
Will patients know they are speaking to an AI?
Yes. It says so at the start and offers a person whenever asked. Anxious patients, complaints and anything delicate are transferred to your team or taken as a message rather than handled by the AI.
How much does a clinic AI receptionist cost?
Setup starts from £1,500 and optional monthly support from £150, excluding VAT. Call minutes, text messages and line charges are billed by the providers and estimated in your quote. The final price depends on the number of call types, your booking system and how many sites it covers, and you get a written quote with scope and exclusions agreed up front.
Where is SpiderHunts based, and how do we work together?
SpiderHunts Technologies Ltd is registered in the UK (Companies House number 16718403), with its registered office at 182-184 High Street N, London E6 2JA. We work remotely, and every meeting, demo and review is by video call, scheduled in UK business hours.
Start here
Book a free consultation for your clinic
Tell us what kind of clinic you run, which booking system you use and how urgent calls are handled now. We’ll walk you through how it would work and tell you honestly what it could take off your front desk.
- You tell us what you needTwo minutes on the form, or a message on WhatsApp.
- A senior engineer reviews itAnd comes back with questions, a realistic range and an honest view on fit.
- Free 30-minute scoping callWe talk through scope, options and a realistic estimate, with no obligation.
Thanks, that’s with us.
A senior engineer reads every enquiry and will reply as soon as they can.
Want to take it further now?
Book a time that suits you, or send a message on WhatsApp.