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Discover how a professional website with online booking, prescription ordering, and self-service tools transforms practice operations and pays for itself within weeks.
Every morning at 8am, reception staff at GP surgeries across Glasgow brace themselves. The phones explode with patients desperate to book same-day appointments, chase prescription renewals, ask about test results, and request sick notes. By 8:30am, your team is exhausted, patients are frustrated, and the queue shows no sign of ending.
But what if you could cut those calls by 40%? What if patients could book appointments, order repeat prescriptions, and find answers to common questions—all without picking up the phone? That's not a fantasy. It's what a professionally designed GP surgery website delivers, and practices across Scotland are already seeing these results.
This comprehensive guide shows you exactly how a modern website transforms practice operations, improves patient satisfaction, and pays for itself within months. Whether you're a practice manager drowning in admin or a GP partner looking to future-proof your surgery, this is the roadmap you need.
Let's be honest about what phone-dependent operations really cost your practice. It's not just about busy lines—it's about lost opportunities, staff burnout, and patients who give up and go elsewhere.
A typical Glasgow GP practice with 8,000 registered patients receives 200-300 calls daily. Each call averages 3-4 minutes, meaning your reception team spends 10-20 hours per day on the phone. That's 1-2 full-time equivalent staff just answering calls.
Add it up, and phone-first operations easily cost practices £50,000+ annually in direct and indirect expenses. A website that costs £699 and reduces calls by 40% delivers ROI within the first month.
The 2024 GP Patient Survey reveals a clear shift in patient expectations. In Scotland, 22.4% of patients now try to contact their practice online first—up from 16.8% just two years ago. Among under-45s, that figure climbs to 38%.
These patients aren't calling because they prefer it. They're calling because you haven't given them another option. When practices add online booking and self-service tools, patient satisfaction scores consistently rise by 10-15 percentage points.
"The moment we launched our new website with online booking, the atmosphere in reception changed completely. Staff weren't constantly firefighting. Patients weren't frustrated. Everyone could breathe."
When we talk about a "professional" GP surgery website, we're not talking about a basic brochure site with your address and phone number. We're talking about a working tool that actively reduces your workload while improving patient care.
Based on websites we've built for practices across Scotland—including comprehensive sites like Lynwood Medical Centre—here's what an effective GP surgery website includes:
Your website connects seamlessly with your existing clinical system—whether that's EMIS, SystmOne, Vision, or Patient Access. Patients can see available appointment slots and book directly, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Practices with online booking consistently see a 25-35% reduction in appointment-related phone calls within the first month.
Prescription requests are one of the highest-volume call types. A dedicated online prescription request form cuts this to near-zero:
Integration with NHS Electronic Prescription Service means patients can even have prescriptions sent directly to their chosen pharmacy.
A comprehensive website includes sections where patients can handle routine tasks themselves:
Reduce unnecessary appointments by helping patients self-manage minor conditions. Your website becomes a trusted health resource:
Patients want to know who's looking after them. Professional profiles build trust and connection:
Keep patients informed without phone calls:
Practices with active news sections report 30% fewer "is the surgery open?" calls during holiday periods.
A GP surgery website isn't just functional—it's a trust-building tool. Patients need to feel confident that your practice is professional, caring, and compliant with regulations. Here's how your website demonstrates this:
Every ScotSites GP surgery website includes dedicated compliance sections:
Social proof matters enormously in healthcare decisions. Your website can showcase:
"Excellent service from reception and doctors. The online booking system works brilliantly—no more fighting for 8am phone slots."
Modern patients expect practices to be welcoming to all. Your website should include:
With GDPR and patient confidentiality concerns, your website must demonstrate data responsibility:
A great GP surgery website isn't just about what patients see—it's about rock-solid technical foundations that ensure reliability, speed, and security.
Over 65% of GP surgery website visits come from mobile devices. Our websites are designed mobile-first, meaning:
NHS Digital standards require accessibility compliance. Every site includes:
Patient trust depends on security. Our sites include:
When patients search "GP near me" or "doctor Glasgow [area]", your practice needs to appear. Our SEO optimisation includes:
Let's look at what happened when a Glasgow practice with 9,500 patients launched their ScotSites website.
Maryhill Health Centre faced overwhelming phone demand:
ScotSites built a comprehensive website in 10 working days for £699, including:
42%
Fewer phone calls
78%
Patient satisfaction
3,200
Online bookings/month
0%
Staff turnover
"Our reception team can actually talk to patients now instead of just racing through calls. The online systems handle the simple stuff, leaving us time for people who really need help."
Let's be completely transparent about pricing and what's included. At ScotSites, we believe GP surgeries deserve professional websites without enterprise-level pricing.
Perfect for practices needing a professional online presence:
For larger practices or those wanting advanced features:
Here's how the numbers work for a typical practice:
The website pays for itself in less than 2 weeks.
We know GP practices don't have time for lengthy projects. Here's exactly how we work:
When was it last updated? Is it mobile-friendly? Does it have online booking? If your site is more than 3 years old, it's likely costing you patients. We can rebuild or migrate your existing site with all new features.
Surprisingly, over-65s are the fastest-growing demographic for online GP services. The NHS App has 30+ million users, many of them older adults. And for patients who do prefer phoning, reduced call volumes mean they get through faster.
You don't need to. We provide a simple content management system that takes 5 minutes to update. Post a news item, change opening hours, add a team member—all without technical knowledge. Or choose our maintenance plan and we handle everything.
We work with all major NHS systems: EMIS, SystmOne, Vision, and Patient Access. Our integrations are tested and compliant with NHS data standards.
Yes. The £699 covers design, development, hosting for 12 months, SSL certificate, and launch support. The only additional cost is domain registration (typically £10-15/year) if you don't already own one.
Every day without a modern website is another day of:
Glasgow GP surgeries deserve better. Your patients deserve convenient access. Your staff deserve manageable workloads. And you deserve a practice that runs smoothly.
We'll review your current online presence, discuss your specific challenges, and show you exactly how a ScotSites website can transform your practice. No obligation, no pressure.
10 working days from signing off the brief to going live. We've streamlined our process specifically for healthcare practices.
Yes. We ensure all NHS-related elements follow the NHS Identity guidelines, including correct use of the NHS logo and colour palette.
Yes. We integrate with Patient Access, EMIS, SystmOne, and other major clinical systems to enable real-time appointment booking.
You receive full training on managing your site. We also offer ongoing maintenance plans from £29/month covering updates, security, backups, and content changes.
Absolutely. Every site includes required accessibility statements, privacy policies, cookie management, and links to your CQC registration.
Minor content changes are easy to make yourself through the CMS. For larger updates, we offer pay-as-you-go development time or monthly maintenance packages.
Basic SEO is included. For practices wanting to compete for high-volume keywords, we offer enhanced SEO packages with monthly reporting and optimisation.
The ScotSites team specialises in creating high-converting websites for Scottish businesses. With years of experience in web design and digital marketing, we help Scottish businesses grow their online presence.
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