What do I actually say when I phone a clinic to book an appointment?

Details first, problem second: the record needs the details, the decision needs the problem. A script that works: Hello, I would like to book an appointment, please. My name is Ana Ruiz, my date of birth is the third of May 1990, and the best number for me is my mobile. I have had a pain in my right knee for two weeks. If you cannot hear the reply, do not guess: The line is not clear. Could you say the date again?

Write the four details in a phone note and keep the screen open, so the first ten seconds are reading rather than remembering. Two situations change the script. If you are calling for someone else, say whose record it is in your first line and have their date of birth ready, because the appointment belongs to that patient and not to the person dialling: I am calling about my daughter. Her date of birth is the twelfth of June 2016. And if the surgery is already closed, listen to the whole recorded message before dialling again, because it tells you which number to use when the doors are shut.

How to Talk With a Doctor in English: Booking an Appointment by Phone →