Set up the Diary

Follow these steps to create a diary template and apply it to future dates.

  1. Check settings.

  2. Create a basic slot, and copy that slot to create a basic day.

  3. If every day (in your working week) has a different schedule, copy the Monday template to the other days, then configure each day individually.

    4. If every day has the same schedule, configure the Monday template first, then copy it to the other days.

    Example: 

    You can close slots for lunch, mark slots as restricted to inpatients, urgent events etc.

  4. Copy the template week to the Diary for a specified number of weeks.

Before creating a new diary, check that the room exists and does not already have a diary.

  1. Click Tables Setup.

  2. Select Places > Rooms.
  3. Confirm that the required room is in this table.

  4. Select Other > Appointments > Diary Setup.
  5. Select a site code via the Site Code field.
  6. Select a room code via the Room field.
  7. Press the [Enter] key.

    8. If a diary exists for this room, it will be shown.

    If a diary does not exist for this room, the tab will be blank.

Tip:

To add a new trust, site, department, or room, see Places.

Create a slot

  1. Click Tables Setup.

  2. Select Other > Appointments > Diary Setup.
  3. Select a site code via the Site field.
  4. Select a room code via the Room field.
  5. Press the Enter key.

    6. Note: the Date field shows today's date.

  6. Click the Day Template button.

    7. The Date field will now show the same day of the week (as today) in the first week of January 1990.

  7. Click the left arrow by the Date field, if required, until the date is Monday 1st January.

    8. We recommend 01-Jan-1990 because this ensures that you don't overwrite any existing diaries.

  8. Click the New button.

    9. The Edit Slots tab opens.

  9. Enter the usual start time for the department in the Time field. Use four digits, for example, 0800.
  10. Leave Urgency and Max Patients as the default of 1 for now.

This is a basic slot which you will now copy to the rest of the day.

Create a day

  1. Click the Copy Selected Room Slot tab.
  2. Enter the start and end times of a normal working day for the department. Use four digits, for example, 0800 and 1800.
  3. Enter 5 in the minutes field.

    4. We recommend five minute slots to maximise available time for booking.

  4. Click the Create Slots button.
  5. Click the Save button.

This is a basic day template which you can configure before or after copying to the other days of the week.

Use the Edit Slots tab to select slot restrictions, then the Copy Selected Room Slots tab to apply those restrictions to a time range.

  1. Click Tables Setup.

  2. Select Other > Appointments > Diary Setup.

  3. Select a site code via the Site field.

  4. Select a room code via the Room field.

  5. Press the Enter key.

  6. Check the date is [correct day]-Jan-1990.

  7. Click the Edit Slots tab.

  8. Complete the fields as required. See the table below for details.

  9. Click the Copy Selected Room Slots tab.

  10. Enter the start and end times for this restriction. Use four digits, for example, 0800 and 0930.

  11. Click the Create Slots button.

  12. Click the Save button.

    13. You can see when slots are restricted in the table (Urgency etc. columns) and by hovering over individual slots here or in the Diary.

Warning:

If you make a template (with new closures or restrictions) and overwrite an existing diary, existing appointments remain in place and may need to be rescheduled.

Note:

The changes will appear in the Diary when you copy the week template to future dates.

Field

Description

Time

Enter a four digit start time, for example 0800.

Closed

Select Yes, No, or leave blank (which means not closed).

Exam Group

Exam Group is a two-character code (defined by you) to identify exams which are grouped together for reasons other than modality.

One Exam Group can be assigned to an exam via Other > Appointments > Exams Per Hospital. This is a local setting.

Two Exam Groups can be assigned to an exam via Other > General > Examination Codes. This is a system-wide setting.

Tip:

  • Use Cris Stats to extract a list of exams assigned to an Exam Group.

  • Restrict Diary slots by Exam Group.

  • Add the Exam Groups column to a worklist. It will show any codes assigned via the Exams Per Hospital and Examination Codes tables.

Example:

BS - Exam Group code for all Breast Screening exams, which might include mammograms (XMAML, XMAMR, XMAMB etc.) and ultrasound (UMAML, UMAMR, UMAMB).

Urgency

Select a booking (event) urgency. This will restrict slots to events of this urgency or above.

Patient Types

Select the patent types you wish to allow in this slot.

Modalities

Select the modalities you wish to allow in this slot. Typically, rooms only accommodate a single modality but you can choose more than one. Modality determines the rooms shown for an event on the Diary screen.

Max Patients

Enter the maximum number of patients that can be booked in this room at the same time.

Exam

Enter one exam code only. No other exams can be booked in this slot.

Radiologist

A radiologist's code entered here will display in the Diary when hovering over a slot. It is for information only and does not restrict booking. You may prefer to use a Room Comment to show the radiologist's name / code.

Comment

A comment will appear against this slot - hover over the small red triangle.

Use the Edit Slots tab to close a slot, then the Copy Selected Room Slots tab to apply the closure to a time range.

  1. Click Tables Setup.

  2. Select Other > Appointments > Diary Setup.
  3. Select a site code via the Site field.
  4. Select a room code via the Room field.
  5. Press the Enter key.
  6. Check the date is [correct day]-Jan-1990.
  7. Click the Edit Slots tab.
  8. Enter Y in the Closed field.

  9. Click the Copy Selected Room Slots tab.
  10. Enter the start and end times for this closure. Use four digits, for example, 1200 and 1300.
  11. Click the Create Slots button.
  12. Click the Save button.

    13. You can see when slots are closed in the table (Y in the Closed column) and by their orange colour here and in the Diary.

Warning:

If you make a template (with new closures or restrictions) and overwrite an existing diary, existing appointments remain in place and may need to be rescheduled.

Note:

The changes will appear in the Diary when you copy the week template to future dates.

If every day (in your working week) has a different schedule, copy the Monday template to the other days, then configure each day individually.

If every day has the same schedule, configure the Monday template first, then copy it to the other days.

Copy a day template to other days

  1. Click Tables Setup.

  2. Select Other > Appointments > Diary Setup.
  3. Select a site code via the Site field.
  4. Select a room code via the Room field.
  5. Press the Enter key.
  6. Check the Date (at the top of the screen) is 1-Jan-1990.
  7. Click the Copy Diary Pages tab.

  8. Select the Day button.

  9. Check Number of Weeks is 1.

  10. Select the Close Bank Holidays button.

  11. Enter 02-01-1990 in the Start date field (in this tab).

  12. Click the Copy button.

    13. A pop-up asks if you wish to copy from Monday to [day].

  13. Click the Yes button.

    14. A pop-up confirms copying is complete.

  14. Click the OK button.

Repeat steps 11 - 14, moving the date forward one day, for each day in your working week.

Once you have configured all the days in your working week, copy this week template to future weeks.

Once you have configured each day of your working week, you can copy the week template to a number of future weeks (for this room).

  1. Click Tables Setup.

  2. Select Other > Appointments > Diary Setup.
  3. Select a site code via the Site field.
  4. Select a room code via the Room field.
  5. Press the Enter key.
  6. Check the date is 01-Jan-1990.
  7. Click the Copy Diary Pages tab.

  8. Select the Week button.

  9. Enter a number in the Number of Weeks field.

  10. Select the Close Bank Holidays button.

  11. Enter the date of the Monday you want the diary to start in the Start date field.

  12. Click the Copy button.

    13. A pop-up confirms copying is complete.

  13. Click the OK button.

Warning:

If you make a template (with new closures or restrictions) and overwrite an existing diary, existing appointments remain in place and may need to be rescheduled.

You can copy a week template to a room other than the one in which you created it.

  1. Click Tables Setup.

  2. Select Other > Appointments > Diary Setup.
  3. Select a site code via the Site field.
  4. Select a room code via the Room field.
  5. Check the date is 01-Jan-1990.
  6. Press the Enter key.
  7. Click the Copy Diary Pages tab.

  8. Select the Week button.

  9. Enter a number in the Number of Weeks field.

  10. Select the Close Bank Holidays button.

  11. Select a room via the to Room field.

    12. The Start Date changes to the next date that diary pages are required.

  12. Click the Copy button.

    13. A pop-up confirms copying is complete.

  13. Click the OK button.

Warning:

If you make a template (with new closures or restrictions) and overwrite an existing diary, existing appointments remain in place and may need to be rescheduled.

  1. Click Tables Setup.

  2. Select Other > Appointments > Diary Setup.
  3. Select the Copy Diary Pages tab.

    4. You can see the existing page template for the room in the field at the top.

  4. Select a room.

    5. Start Date shows the next date that diaries are required (for the selected room).

  5. Enter a number in the Number of Weeks field.
  6. Select the Week button.
  7. Select the Close Bank Holidays button.
  8. Click the Copy button.

    9. A progress bar shows that copying is in progress.

    A pop-up confirms copying is complete.

  9. Click the OK button.

Warning:

If you make a template (with new closures or restrictions) and overwrite an existing diary, existing appointments remain in place and may need to be rescheduled.

Tip:

The Start Date shows the next date that a selected room does not have any diary pages. This date may be different for other rooms. We recommend aligning all your rooms' diaries (i.e. start and end on the same dates) to make diary maintenance easier.

Copy Forward extends the time range of existing diary pages for multiple rooms.

A week template must exist for each room before using Copy Forward.

  1. Click Tables Setup.

  2. Select Other > Appointments > Diary Setup.
  3. Click the Copy Diary Pages tab.

    4. The Start Date shows the next date that diaries are required (for the selected room).

  4. Enter a date in the Start Date field. This will apply to all rooms you select.
  5. Enter a number in the Number of Weeks field.
  6. Select the Week button.
  7. Select the Close Bank Holidays button.

  8. Select the Copy Forward button.

  9. Select the All button or individual room buttons.

  10. Click the Copy button.

    11. A progress bar shows that copying is in progress.

    A pop-up confirms copying is complete.

  11. Click the OK button.

Warning:

If you make a template (with new closures or restrictions) and overwrite an existing diary, existing appointments remain in place and may need to be rescheduled.

Tip:

The Start Date shows the next date that a selected room does not have any diary pages. This date may be different for other rooms. We recommend aligning all your rooms' diaries (i.e. start and end on the same dates) to make diary maintenance easier.

If you want to restrict a room for a one-off occasion, restrict the slots individually via the Diary.

Click to open the Diary.

To restrict a single slot:

  1. Right-click the slot.

  2. Hover over Patient Type or Urgency.

  3. Select a value.

To add a room comment explaining the restriction:

  1. Right-click in the top bar (where the date is displayed).
  2. Click Change comment.

  3. Enter a comment.

  4. Click the Save button.

Note:

Restricted slots appear green when a matching event is selected in the Scratch Pad and grey when a non-matching event is selected.

Tip:

If the diary shows slots as full but no patients appear to be allocated, open the room settings via Other > Appointments > Diary Setup.

Click the Recalculate button to reset the slots.

If you want to close a room for a one-off occasion (such as maintenance or staff absence), close the slots individually via the Diary.

Click to open the Diary.

To close a single slot:

  1. Right-click the slot.

  2. Click Close.

To close multiple slots:

  1. Right-click in the top bar (where the date is displayed).
  2. Click Close time range.

  3. Enter start and end times.

  4. Click the Done button.

To add a room comment explaining the closure:

  1. Right-click in the top bar (where the date is displayed).
  2. Click Change comment.

  3. Enter a comment.

  4. Click the Save button.

Note:

To close a single slot, right-click the slot then click Close.

To close multiple slots, right-click in the top bar (where the date is displayed) then click Close time range. Enter start and end times then click Done.

Closed slots are orange. One or two preceding slots may be greyed out, to prevent booking an exam too close to the closing time.

Tip:

If the diary shows slots as full but no patients appear to be allocated, open the room settings via Other > Appointments > Diary Setup.

Click the Recalculate button to reset the slots.

System Administration: Diary Set Up

Check settings

Before creating a new diary, check that the room exists and does not already have a diary.

Create a day template

Create slots to build your day template.

Create a week template

If every day has a different schedule, copy Monday to other days, then configure each day.

If every day has the same schedule, configure Monday first, then copy to the other days.

Restrict slots (via the template)

Use the Edit Slots tab to select slot restrictions, then the Copy Selected Room Slots tab to apply those restrictions to a time range.

Close slots (via the template)

Use the Edit Slots tab to close a slot, then the Copy Selected Room Slots tab to apply the closure to a time range.

Create diary pages

Once you have configured each day of your working week, you can copy the week template to a number of future weeks (for this room).

Copy one room to another

Cpy a week template to a room other than the one in which you created it.

Extend one room

Extend the time range for a single room.

A week template must exist for the room before using Copy.

Extend multiple rooms

Extend the time range for multiple rooms.

A week template must exist for each room before using Copy Forward.

Restrict slots (via the Diary)

If you want to restrict a room for a one-off occasion, restrict the slots individually via the Diary.

Close slots (via the Diary)

If you want to close a room for a one-off occasion (such as maintenance or staff absence), close the slots individually via the Diary.