Name. Email. Phone. Date of birth. Home address. GP details. “Please describe your difficulties.” A drop-down of diagnoses. A pre-ticked box for the newsletter.
Plenty of therapy websites still greet a first-time visitor with something like that. Every line asks something of a person who has only just found the nerve to get in touch, and every line is something you then have to store, protect and justify.
Fixing it takes an afternoon.
One rule: if you don’t need it to reply, cut it
An enquiry form starts a conversation. It is not your intake form, your assessment or your contract.
So go through your form one field at a time and ask: do I need this to send a useful reply? Not “might it be handy one day”. Need it, now. There is no magic number of fields. Judge each one on whether it is necessary, and the form will usually shrink on its own.
What usually survives
- Name. One box. A first name is fine.
- Email address. So you can reply.
- Phone number, marked (optional). For people who would rather talk.
- A message box labelled “Any questions about sessions or availability? (optional)”. It invites practical questions, not a life story.
- In person or online. Only if you offer both: “In person”, “Online”, “Not sure yet”.
Ask people not to overshare
Put a short line right by the message box, such as: “Please don’t include medical history, diagnoses or other sensitive details here. We can talk about that when we speak.”
Even with that line, a free-text box can still receive sensitive information, because people write what is on their mind. Information about someone’s health is special category data under UK GDPR, so treat every enquiry as if it might contain some. Know where submissions are sent and stored, who can see them, how they are secured and how long you keep them, and delete what you no longer need.
Don’t assume you’ll need it later, either
Date of birth, GP details, medical history: whether you ever collect these depends on your practice, the work you do, your professional body’s guidance and your insurer. Moving them from the enquiry form to intake paperwork is not automatically the answer. Collect only what is necessary for a clear purpose, and be ready to explain why you hold it.
Privacy and marketing are two different things
Make privacy information available where you collect the data. The ICO expects people to be told how their information will be used at the point you collect it. A line beside the Send button, such as “Read how I handle your information”, linked to your privacy notice, puts it exactly there.
Sending an enquiry is not signing up for marketing. If you want to send newsletters or offers, ask separately, with an unticked box or a separate sign-up. Never make it a condition of getting in touch.
This is practical guidance, not legal advice. For your own set-up, check the ICO’s guidance and your professional body’s requirements.
The details that earn trust
- Say when you will reply, and keep to it: “I aim to reply within two working days” beats a 24-hour promise you sometimes miss.
- Write “(optional)” in words. Small stars get missed.
- Show your email address next to the form, for people who would rather write from their own inbox.
- Send yourself a test enquiry from your phone every month and check it lands where you expect, not in spam.
Rewrite yours this week
List every field on your current form and mark each one “need” or “nice to have”. Cut the nice-to-haves, swap in the new message label, add the sensitive-details line and check your privacy link works.
On a Therapy Webgenie website you can make most of these changes yourself, and we are happy to look over the result. If your form is hard to edit, or enquiries sometimes go missing, tell us how you work and we can talk through a new or rebuilt website for your practice.