How to reschedule or cancel a visit as a patient
From the patient portal, without phoning reception. What to do when the buttons are inactive, and what the notice-period and refund messages mean.
Something has come up and you will not make your appointment. You can change or cancel it yourself in the patient portal — as long as the clinic allows it. Every practitioner sets their own rules, so what you can do with one person may be blocked with another. This guide walks both routes and explains the messages you see when it is too late.
How to do it
Sign in and open Appointments
Go into the patient portal and click Appointments in the top menu. By default you see the upcoming dates. Click the one you want to change.
Choose Reschedule or Cancel
The appointment card has two buttons: Reschedule and Cancel. If you cannot see one of them, or it is inactive, the practitioner has switched that option off or the required notice period has passed. Then it is a phone call to reception.
Both buttons sit in the card header, marked one. The area under three is empty until you send a request — only then does the Pending Reschedule Request section appear there, the one step 4 talks about.
For a reschedule, pick a new time
The Reschedule Appointment dialog shows the Current appointment and the free slots with the same practitioner. Once you pick a new time Heltio asks how you want to proceed:
- Keep my current appointment until confirmed — the old slot stays active and only changes once the request is approved. On a refusal, nothing changes.
- Cancel my current appointment and request new date — the old slot goes immediately, and the request for a new one waits for a decision.
The first option is the safer one. Choose the second only when you are certain you will not turn up for the original slot.
Send the request and wait for a decision
The Submit request button finishes the job. Heltio confirms: Your reschedule request has been sent to …. You'll be notified when it's reviewed. Until a decision, the appointment card shows a Pending Reschedule Request section with the state Awaiting approval and a Cancel request button.
Where the practitioner allows rescheduling without asking, the change takes effect straight away and you see Your … has been rescheduled to …
For a cancellation, read the consequences
The Cancel appointment dialog gives the date and asks for confirmation. If the clinic has set a partial refund, it will carry a sentence such as A 50% refund will apply. The remaining 50% is non-refundable. Refunds are processed by the clinic. After confirming, Heltio acknowledges with Your appointment has been cancelled.
Check the change went through
Go back to Appointments. A rescheduled appointment carries the new date; a cancelled one drops off the upcoming list. You do not need to confirm anything by phone — the practitioner sees the change at their end.
When something does not work
Rescheduling must be done at least 24 hours before your appointment. Your appointment is in 6 hours.
What this means: The notice period this practitioner requires has passed. The number of hours comes from their own rules; it is not shared across the clinic.
Cannot cancel: the practitioner's policy requires 24 hours notice. Your appointment is in 3 hours.
What this means: The same limit on the cancellation side, where the clinic chose the “block” action for late cancellations.
You have reached the maximum number of reschedules for this appointment.
What this means: The practitioner has set a limit on how many times one appointment can be moved.
You already have a pending reschedule request. Cancel it before requesting a new one.
What this means: An earlier request is still waiting for the practitioner's decision.
Rescheduling is not available for appointments with this practitioner.
What this means: That person has switched self-service rescheduling off.
This appointment has already passed and cannot be cancelled.
What this means: The appointment has a status that can no longer be changed — it is completed, or was cancelled earlier.
Related
- Booking rules — where the notice-period and refund limits come from.
- How to accept a clinic invitation — how to get portal access in the first place.
- Patient portal — what else you will find on your side.