What "indicative times" means

Some listings on Quokka carry a label saying indicative times. It is worth knowing precisely what that means, because it is a genuine limitation rather than a hedge.

What it means

The practice publishes its availability through its own online booking system. We read that, the same way you would if you visited their website, and show it on the listing so you can compare it against other practices in one place.

We are not connected to that practice's diary. So:

• The times are as we last read them, which may be up to 24 hours ago.
• If someone booked that slot an hour ago, we may not know yet.
• We cannot hold or reserve the appointment for you.
• The booking itself finishes on the practice's own site, under their terms.

Why show them at all

Because a practice that has not signed up to Quokka still has appointments, and a search that only showed practices who had signed up would be a worse answer to "who can see me on Thursday".

The failure we are trying to avoid is not showing you an out-of-date time. It is showing you an out-of-date time while implying we had checked it. A slot we cannot vouch for should never look like one we can, which is why the label is on the listing rather than buried here.

What to do about it

• Book promptly if the time matters. Indicative times go stale in the ordinary way.
• The practice's own site is the source of truth. When you follow through to book, whatever their system says is correct, and ours was a guess.
• Do not travel on the strength of a Quokka listing alone. Have a confirmation from the practice first.

When it does not apply

Listings marked verified and connected are different: those practices have connected their practice-management system to us, so the times shown come live from the diary and the appointment is booked and paid for on Quokka. Those listings say so.

Why not just hide the unconfirmed ones?

We think a marketplace that showed only the practices paying it would be less useful and less honest, and there is a real cost to the alternative: most private practices in the UK have not heard of us, and their patients still need to find them. Labelling the difference is how both things can be true at once.