Every clinic shows clients a stack of policies and consents: the GDPR/privacy notice on registration, the booking terms when they book online, the health-plan terms when they subscribe to a health plan, and the pre-appointment instructions ("please bring a urine sample") that go out with confirmation emails. Lupa lets you author every one of these documents from one place using a rich-text editor, and the right text shows up automatically wherever clients need to see it.
💡 In short: Settings has four separate policy editors: Privacy Policy, Booking Policy, Health Plan Terms, and Pre-Appointment Instructions. Each editor is a rich-text field; saving publishes the new version live to the booking portal, the health-plan signup flow, and outbound confirmation emails.
Before You Begin
📍 Permissions required:
Booking Settings for Privacy Policy, Booking Policy, and Pre-Appointment Instructions
Manage Health Plans for Health Plan Terms If you can't see one of the tabs in Settings, ask your practice manager to grant the relevant permission.
These tabs live in two groups in the Settings sidebar:
Booking and Rota → Privacy Policy, Pre-Appointment Instructions
Documentation → Booking Policy, Health Plan Terms Each clinic in your organisation has its own copy of each policy. Switch between clinics from the store switcher in the top navigation before editing.
Privacy Policy
The privacy policy explains how your clinic collects, stores, and uses client and pet data. This is required reading for GDPR (UK/EU) and good practice everywhere else. Open Settings → Privacy Policy.
Write or paste your privacy policy into the rich-text editor.
Use the toolbar for headings, bold, lists, links, tables, and signature blocks.
Click Save at the bottom right. A See Privacy Policy link at the bottom of the page opens the public version so you can sanity-check what clients will see.
Where it appears
Online booking portal — on the confirmation step, just above the Request Booking button, clients see the line "By clicking Request Booking you agree to {storeName}'s Booking & Privacy Policies." Both words are underlined links; Privacy opens your privacy policy in a new tab.
Public URL —
https://lupapets.com/{your-store-id}/privacy-policy. Share this link from your own website or in client correspondence.
⚠️ Saved changes are live immediately. There is no draft state. Re-read the entire policy before clicking "Save". Clients will be looking at the new version within seconds.
Booking Policy
The booking policy is the small-print clients agree to when they book online. This includes cancellation windows, deposits, late-arrival rules, and the like. Open Settings → Booking Policy. Lupa ships with a default booking policy template that covers the common ground (booking process, communications, deposits, 48-hour cancellation, no-shows, complaints). Most clinics start from the default and tweak.
Click into the editor and adjust the default text, change the cancellation window, deposit amount, or anything else specific to your clinic.
Use the toolbar to add sections, lists, links, or signature blocks.
Click Save. If you want to start over from Lupa's template, click Reset to Default. You'll see a confirmation dialog because this overwrites your current text.
Where it appears
Booking portal — on the confirmation step, just above the Request Booking button, clients see the line "By clicking Request Booking you agree to {storeName}'s Booking & Privacy Policies." The word Booking is an underlined link that opens your booking policy in a new tab.
Public URL —
https://lupapets.com/{your-store-id}/booking-policy.**Appointment Requested Emails. **At the bottom of Emails that are sent from the clinic to the user they will get a link to the clinics booking policy.
✅ Customise the bits that vary by clinic. This includes specific cancellation hours, deposit amount, contact emails and similar but keep the main structure and components that Lupa provides. The default has been written to be GDPR-aware and reads well to clients.
Health Plan Terms
If your clinic offers subscription health plans, the terms appear at the point a client signs up. Open Settings → Health Plan Terms. A default template is provided that covers annual subscription, monthly payments, the 14-day refund window, non-transferability, and the distinction from insurance. The template uses two placeholders that Lupa fills in automatically:
Placeholder | Replaced with |
{{ CompanyName }} | The legal company name across the group. |
{{ StoreName }} | The individual clinic's name. |
Edit the template to match your plan structure (refund window, eligibility, transfer rules).
Save. Reset to Default is available if you want to roll back to Lupa's template.
Where it appears
Health plan signup flow — shown to clients when they enrol in a health plan, before they confirm.
No public URL — health plan terms aren't published to a public page; they live inside the signup journey.
📍 Health Plan Terms is gated by Update Health Plans, separately from the other policies. If you have Booking Settings but no health-plan permission, you'll see the other tabs but not this one.
Pre-Appointment Instructions
These are the short, appointment-type-specific instructions that go out in confirmation emails. "Please don't feed your cat for 8 hours before sedation", "Bring a fresh urine sample for the urinalysis", "Please arrive 10 minutes early to fill in the new client form". Open Settings → Pre-Appointment Instructions. Each entry has a title, optional appointment-type filters, and a rich-text body. You can add as many appointment types to each Pre-Appointment Instruction.
Add an instruction
Click Add Pre-Appointment Instructions.
Enter a Title (e.g. Pre-op fasting).
Select one or more Appointment Types the instruction should apply to. Leave blank to apply to every appointment.
Write the instruction body in the rich-text editor, keep it short and direct.
Click Save.
Edit or delete
Click an existing instruction's title to open it for editing. Use the Delete button inside the dialog to remove it.
Where it appears
**Booking confirmation emails. **Lupa picks the instruction(s) that match the booked appointment type and includes them in the confirmation message.
💡 One short instruction per appointment type is plenty. If a single visit type has many requirements, group them in one entry rather than splitting them across several. Clients are likely to only read the first one carefully.
Where each policy ends up
Policy | Surfaces it appears on |
Privacy Policy | Booking portal confirmation step, public URL |
Booking Policy | Booking portal confirmation step, appointment confirmation email, public URL |
Health Plan Terms | Health plan signup flow only |
Pre-Appointment Instructions | Booking confirmation emails (filtered by appointment type) |
Tips
✅ Best practices:
Read the default templates before editing. Lupa's defaults have been drafted to be readable and GDPR-aware. Most clinics need to change less than they expect.
Use plain language. Long clauses look professional but get skipped. Short paragraphs and bullet points get read.
Audit annually. Re-read every policy at the start of the financial year. Practices change, services change, and outdated text is a complaint magnet.
Cite specifics. If your cancellation window is 48 hours, say 48 hours, not "reasonable notice".
One signature, one owner. Decide one person at the practice owns these documents and signs off on changes.
Keep pre-appointment instructions to two short paragraphs. Anything longer gets ignored.
Troubleshooting
Problem | Solution |
I can't find the Privacy Policy or Booking Policy tab | You need the Booking Settings permission. Ask your practice manager to grant it. |
Health Plan Terms tab is missing | That tab is gated by the Update Health Plans permission, which is separate from Booking Settings. |
Public /privacy-policy URL shows an empty page | No privacy policy has been saved yet. Open the editor and save at least placeholder text. |
Reset to Default button is greyed out | Your current text is already the default. The button only enables once you've made a change. |
Pre-appointment instruction not appearing in confirmation emails | Check the Appointment Types that are linked under each Pre-appointment instruction. |
Two pre-appointment instructions match a single appointment type | Both will be included in the confirmation email. Either delete one or merge their content. Clients otherwise see two paragraphs that may contradict. |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a privacy policy legally required? {toggle="true"}
For UK and EU clinics under GDPR, yes! You must tell clients how their personal data is used. Even outside regulated regions, having a clear privacy policy is part of being a trustworthy practice.
Can each clinic in my organisation have its own privacy policy and booking terms? {toggle="true"}
Yes. Every editor on this page is per-clinic. Use the store switcher in the top navigation, then edit the policy for that clinic. Multi-site groups often share the same wording but tweak the contact details.
Do clients have to actively tick a checkbox to accept the booking policy? {toggle="true"}
On the booking portal, the line "By clicking Request Booking you agree to {storeName}'s Booking & Privacy Policies." appears visibly above the **Request Booking** button. Both **Booking** and **Privacy** are underlined links that open the full policy text in a new tab. Clicking **Request Booking** counts as agreement.
What's the difference between this Privacy Policy and the GDPR opt-in on the client form? {toggle="true"}
The **Privacy Policy** here is your *public* policy document, the legal text. The **GDPR opt-in** on the individual client record (covered in ) is the per-client toggle for marketing communications. Different things, both matter.
Can I roll back if I save a bad edit? {toggle="true"}
There's no built-in version history. Use **Reset to Default** to restore Lupa's standard template for Booking Policy and Health Plan Terms. For Privacy Policy, keep a copy of your current text outside Lupa (e.g. in a Word doc) before making large changes.
How do pre-appointment instructions reach clients? {toggle="true"}
They're embedded in the booking confirmation email Lupa sends after a booking. Lupa picks the instruction whose Appointment Type matches the booked visit type.