📝 Please note: Schedules are useful for regular working patterns and longer-term absence such as annual leave. For ad hoc/last-minute availability changes, we recommend using the override feature.
How do I create a schedule in my calendar?
Go to 'Settings' > 'Diary' and click 'Schedules'.
Select the practitioner and click the '+ Create' button.
💡 Top tip: Want to edit an existing schedule? Read our handy guide here.
Under 'Options', you can add the schedule details:
Start date: This is required, and will default to the current date.
End date: This is optional. If entered, the schedule will stop and revert to normal hours from that date - this is useful when using schedules for annual leave/time off. With no end date, the schedule will run indefinitely.
Cycle: A multi-week cycle allows your schedule to repeat up to every 4 weeks. Choosing 'Every 2/3/4 weeks' allows you more flexibility for irregular schedules.
Enable Schedule?: This will be ticked as default, meaning the schedule is active. It can be unticked to make the schedule inactive and save it as a draft.
Under 'Schedule', the practitioner's default work pattern will be shown, matching the practice's opening hours.
Update the 'Start' and 'End' times in the boxes for each day.
To make a practitioner unavailable for the entire day, click the calendar 📅 icon on the right of the row (you can click again to make them available).
From here, you can also add breaks within each day. To find out more about the importance of adding breaks and how to do this, read our helpful guide here.
When applied, the calendar will be shown as blocked out during the times when the practitioner is unavailable.
💡 Top tip: Want to run multiple schedules at once? You can layer multiple schedules so they are all active at the same time.
How do I edit an existing schedule?
To open a schedule that already exists:
Go to 'Settings' > 'Diary' and click 'Schedules'.
Select the practitioner and find the existing schedule you want to edit.
Click the pen 📝 icon on the right-hand side.
When are schedules useful for my practice?
Scheduling enables you to define the availability of individual practitioners, independently of practice opening hours.
You can reflect practitioners' working patterns (such as early/late finishes and days off), as well as extended absences or irregularities (such as annual leave).
It is useful if you know practitioners' availability in advance. For shorter-term/last minute changes to availability, you can override the calendar availability.
📝 Please note: This removes the need to book 'fake' appointments to block out the calendar, and ensures availability is reflected accurately in your reporting.