How NHS Trusts Can Capture Patient Payments Outside Normal Working Hours

NHS services continue long after finance desks close. Emergency departments, pharmacies and maternity units operate through evenings, nights, weekends and bank holidays, which means patients may still need to make legitimate payments when administrative teams are unavailable.

For NHS Trusts, this can create a gap between delivering a chargeable service and actually collecting the money. If payment cannot be taken at the point of service, staff may need to explain alternative payment routes, manage follow-up enquiries or ask the patient to make the payment at another time.

At VincoPay, our hospital payment kiosks give NHS and healthcare providers an onsite route for secure card payments, helping make payment available beyond standard office hours without relying on clinical or reception staff.

Why out-of-hours payment collection can be difficult

Out-of-hours patient payments may arise when a patient is discharged with a chargeable prescription, purchases a maternity scan image, or needs to pay for another eligible hospital service after the relevant payment desk has closed.

The payment itself may be straightforward, but the process around it can quickly become inefficient. Staff may need to explain how payment can be made later, provide alternative payment instructions or ask the patient to contact or return to the hospital during office hours.

This creates additional cost for providers and inconvenience for patients. It can also delay payment, complicate financial reconciliation, and increase the likelihood that smaller amounts are left outstanding altogether.

Which patient payments can arise outside normal working hours?

The range of eligible payments will depend on each NHS Trust and the services it provides. Teams must always distinguish between NHS care that is free at the point of use and products or services for which a legitimate charge applies.

A self-service kiosk can be configured around the Trust’s prices, procedures and patient journey, clearly showing the service, cost and relevant payment details before a transaction is processed.

Prescription payments

Hospital pharmacies often support emergency departments and other services outside conventional office hours. Where prescription charges apply, patients may therefore need to pay before they can collect their medication.

Our prescription payment kiosks are designed for busy hospital environments, including ED, SDEC, CDU, RAU and Ambulatory Care. Patients can make card payments directly at the kiosk and receive a receipt to support prescription collection.

This allows payment to continue even when a cashier or finance desk is unavailable. It also reduces the need for pharmacy, reception or clinical staff to take money, manage cash or become involved in routine payment administration.

Maternity services

Maternity departments may also offer optional chargeable products and services outside normal office hours, including maternity scan photographs, amenity rooms, and 4D scans, where these services are offered by the Trust.

With our maternity payment kiosks, patients can select the relevant option and pay securely onsite. Pricing, service choices and the on-screen journey can be configured around the department’s requirements.

Making payment at the point of decision can help the Trust capture income immediately rather than asking patients to return at another time, make a telephone payment or complete the process online later.

The same model can support other eligible hospital services and may also be appropriate for GP practices that charge for certain non-NHS services. Each general practice or GP surgery will have its own procedures and payment requirements.

How self-service kiosks support 24/7 payment collection

A hospital payment kiosk provides a permanent onsite payment point. As long as the location remains accessible, payment availability is no longer tied directly to finance office opening hours.

This is particularly useful in acute hospital settings where patient flow continues throughout the evening, overnight and during weekends or bank holidays. Instead of creating different payment procedures depending on the time of day, providers can offer a more consistent route.

Keep payment available during evenings, weekends and bank holidays

If a patient receives a chargeable item at 10pm, the ability to pay should not depend on a finance office reopening the following morning. A self-service kiosk gives the patient the option to pay immediately by card or contactless payment.

That means patients do not need to arrange payment later, find the correct telephone number the next day or make an additional journey to the hospital simply because the service was provided outside normal administrative hours.

Capturing payment there and then can also mean less money is left outstanding. The transaction is processed while the patient is already onsite and creates a clear payment record for the relevant finance team.

Reduce manual payment handling for staff

Without self-service technology, payment activity can easily fall to staff whose main responsibility is patient care or operational support. Taking payments manually, explaining alternative payment arrangements or directing patients towards another payment route all consume valuable time.

Automated payment systems help reduce that workload. Patients can follow a defined on-screen process, while staff can simply direct them towards the kiosk rather than becoming responsible for processing the transaction themselves.

For busy healthcare teams, reducing this routine administration can support service quality and allow staff to concentrate more of their time on the work they are there to deliver.

Make card payments straightforward for patients

Any patient-facing payment system needs to be simple to understand and easy to use. At VincoPay, we provide a customisable touchscreen interface so each Trust can control the services, wording, prices and options that patients see.

Patients can select the required service, confirm the relevant details and complete secure card payments. Contactless payment can make the process particularly efficient for lower-value transactions where speed and convenience are important.

What NHS Trusts gain from collecting payment at the point of service

Capturing payment while the patient is still in the hospital can reduce the delay between providing a chargeable service and receiving the corresponding income.

It can also reduce follow-up work, improve transaction visibility and make the overall payment process more convenient for the customer. For providers, that means a more consistent way of collecting eligible income across a wider range of operating hours.

Capture income when patients are ready to pay

A delayed payment can create additional administrative work. Staff may need to explain how payment can be made later, respond to follow-up enquiries or reconcile a transaction received on a different date.

Point-of-service collection removes many of those additional steps. The patient can pay while the service, cost and reason for payment are already clear, rather than having to return to the transaction later. For lower-value payments in particular, this is important. The administrative cost of following up an unpaid amount can otherwise become disproportionate to the value of the payment itself.

Reduce pressure on admin and finance teams

One of the key benefits of our payment kiosks is their ability to streamline routine processes and reduce pressure on staff. When patients can complete payments themselves, fewer transactions need to be manually handled by reception, pharmacy or finance teams.

Self-service card payments can also reduce reliance on cash payments and the associated cash handling procedures. For Trusts moving towards predominantly cashless services, a kiosk provides an onsite alternative without requiring a staffed cashier throughout every operating period.

The wider aim is to prevent routine payment activity from creating unnecessary work for teams already managing care delivery, commissioning responsibilities, financial performance and day-to-day hospital operations.

Improve reconciliation and payment visibility

Our VincoPay kiosk software provides transaction data and reporting tools that give authorised teams greater visibility over what has been processed and which service each payment relates to.

That can support financial reconciliation and create a clearer audit trail. Rather than relying on disconnected records or manual notes, teams can review transaction data and monitor payment performance more efficiently.

For providers operating kiosks across multiple locations or departments, reporting can also help identify payment volumes, service demand and the value being generated through self-service payment.

Support a more convenient patient experience

Patients who are ready to pay should not have to search for an open office, return to the hospital later or wait for a finance team to become available.

Self-service provides a more consistent route. The patient can follow the straightforward on-screen payment journey, select the appropriate option and complete the payment independently.

For healthcare providers, that can also mean fewer payment-related questions reaching staff during extended operating hours, particularly at times when administrative support is more limited.

Why kiosks work in busy hospital settings

At VincoPay, we offer wall-mounted, countertop and portable kiosk options, allowing providers to choose a format that suits the available space, patient flow and specific service.

Our software can also be customised around individual Trust procedures. This makes the same core technology suitable for pharmacy, maternity, emergency care and other hospital services operating across different hours and locations.

Rather than forcing departments to adapt to a generic payment process, the aim is to build the payment journey around how the service already operates.

Security, compliance and integration

Patient-facing payment services need to provide an appropriate level of security while remaining straightforward for patients to use.

Our hospital kiosks support secure payment processing, including PCI DSS compliant solutions, cloud-based technology and fraud detection features. These measures help providers deliver a reliable digital financial platform without adding unnecessary complexity to the patient journey.

VincoPay kiosks can also work alongside existing financial systems, helping NHS teams manage payment information within their established financial processes without requiring patients to enter identifiable information through the kiosk.

For providers, transaction records and reporting remain available to authorised teams while the patient-facing payment journey stays clear and simple. VincoPay’s payment kiosks do not require access to a patient’s medical record to complete the payment process.

Planning an out-of-hours payment service

The best place to start is with the patient journey. Trusts should identify where chargeable services are delivered, when patients are most likely to need them and what currently happens if payment cannot be made immediately.

From there, teams can define the services and prices that should appear on the kiosk and decide how completed transactions need to appear within financial reporting.

Thinking through these details before implementation helps ensure the payment service supports both the patient and the teams responsible for managing it.

Choose the right kiosk location

Kiosk location should reflect where payment demand actually occurs.

A prescription payment kiosk might be located close to the pharmacy or emergency pathway, for example, while a maternity kiosk should be convenient for patients leaving the relevant department.

Visibility matters as well. Clear signage and straightforward staff guidance can help patients find the kiosk easily, particularly during quieter evening or night-time hours when fewer administrative staff may be present.

Design the payment journey around the service

Each payment journey should be kept straightforward. The kiosk can display the relevant services, options and prices configured by the Trust, allowing the patient to make a selection and pay without entering identifiable patient information.

The screen should make the price clear and explain what the patient is paying for. Keeping the payment journey concise can reduce confusion and help people complete transactions confidently.

Trusts should also agree responsibility for reporting and monitoring before launch, so the relevant team knows who will review transactions, manage exceptions and reconcile payments.

Capture more eligible patient payments with VincoPay

At VincoPay, we work with NHS hospitals to provide self-service payment technology that helps make eligible patient payments easier to collect throughout the day.

Our solutions include hospital payment kiosks, prescription payment kiosks and maternity payment kiosks, supported by configurable software, secure processing, reporting and integration capabilities.

For Trusts looking to reduce missed income outside normal office hours, we recommend starting by identifying the services, locations and patient journeys where gaps in payment collection currently occur.

From there, we can help determine the most appropriate kiosk setup and payment journey for the organisation.

Contact us to discuss how VincoPay could support patient payment collection across your NHS Trust.

Frequently asked questions