# Appointments and Waiting Lists

## Why this matters

A waiting list is only as accurate as its last update. The commonest way a list drifts is a
patient who has been booked, or has already been seen, but is still showing as Waiting. Linking
appointment types to a list means the person booking or finishing the appointment is asked to
update the list there and then. Nothing changes without their confirmation, and every change is
logged with the appointment that caused it.

## How the link works

Each waiting list can be associated with one or more [appointment types](/docs/appointments/appointment-types/).
The link is set on the waiting list, not on the appointment type, and one appointment type can be
linked to several lists.

When an appointment of a linked type is booked, or marked **Finished**, Diarybook checks each
client on the appointment. If the client has an entry on a linked list, and that entry is in a
status the appointment would move on, Diarybook opens the **Waiting List** window and suggests the
change.

If no appointment types are linked to any list, nothing about booking or attendance changes.

## Before you start

- The waiting list must already exist. See [Getting Started](/docs/waiting-lists/getting-started/).
- The appointment types must already exist. See [Appointment Types](/docs/appointments/appointment-types/).

## Linking appointment types to a waiting list

1. Go to the **Clients** area and select **Waiting Lists**.
2. Select the list, then select **Edit**.
3. In the **Associated Appointment Types** panel, select **Appointment Types** and choose one or
   more types.
4. Select **Save**.

To unlink a type, edit the list again and clear it from the selection. Status changes already made
from prompts are not affected.

When you convert a client group into a waiting list, the **Associated Appointment Types** panel is
not shown on the conversion form. Save the conversion first, then edit the new list to link
appointment types.

Link only the types that genuinely represent the appointment the patient is waiting for, such as
the outpatient clinic or the procedure itself. Linking a general type that is also used for
unrelated appointments means staff are asked about the waiting list when the booking has nothing
to do with it, and soon learn to dismiss the prompt.

## When an appointment is booked

The prompt appears when a new appointment is saved from the appointment window, and only for
these two statuses:

| Patient's current status | Suggested change | Evidence recorded |
|---|---|---|
| Waiting | **Waiting and Scheduled**, with the TCI date set to the appointment date | *Status updated at appointment booking — …* |
| Attended | **Scheduled for Review**, with the appointment date recorded as the review appointment | *Status updated at follow-up booking — …* |
{.table}

The evidence text names the appointment type, the date and time, and the users on the
appointment, for example *"Status updated at appointment booking — ENT Clinic on 14/11/2026 09:30
with Mary Byrne"*. Where the appointment type has a public name, that is used.

There is no prompt when the patient is in any other status:

- **Awaiting Triage** — the patient has not been triaged yet, so Diarybook does not suggest
  scheduling them. Triage them to Waiting first, or change the status by hand. See
  [Status and Suspensions](/docs/waiting-lists/status-and-suspensions/).
- **Waiting and Scheduled** or **Scheduled for Review** — they already have a date. If the new
  appointment replaces it, update the TCI date by editing the entry.
- **Suspended** — the clock is paused. Resume the entry before scheduling it.
- **Removed** — the entry is closed.

There is also no prompt when:

- **An existing appointment is edited.** Changing the date, time or appointment type of an
  appointment that is already saved does not prompt, even if it changes it to a linked type. Update
  the TCI date on the waiting list entry by hand.
- **The appointment is a repeat.** When an appointment is booked with repeats, only the first
  appointment is checked. That is the one the waiting list is scheduled to.
- **The appointment has no appointment type.**
- **The appointment was created outside the appointment window**, for example a
  [synced appointment](/docs/appointments/synced-appointments/) from another system. In
  integration mode, waiting list statuses for synced appointments are updated by hand.

## When an appointment is marked Finished

The prompt appears when the attendance status is set to **Finished**, and only when the patient is
**Waiting and Scheduled**:

| Patient's current status | Suggested change | Evidence recorded |
|---|---|---|
| Waiting and Scheduled | **Attended** | *Status updated at appointment completion — …* |
{.table}

There is no prompt in any other status. In particular:

- **Waiting** — the patient was never moved to Waiting and Scheduled, so the appointment was not
  treated as their scheduled one. Change the status by hand.
- **Scheduled for Review** — finishing a review appointment does not suggest a change. Decide the
  next status, such as Attended or Removed, and change it by hand.

Any way of setting **Finished** in the appointment screens can prompt:

| Where | What is checked |
|---|---|
| Appointments List, menu or **Shift-F** | Every client on each selected appointment |
| Appointments List, **Shift-N** | Only appointments that move from **Is Active** to **Finished** |
| Appointment View, **Attendance** card | The client the card is showing |
| Appointment View, Attendees view | The ticked attendees only |
{.table}

Setting any other attendance status, such as **DNA**, never prompts. See
[Attendance and DNA](/docs/appointments/attendance-and-dna/) for the ways of changing attendance.

## Answering the prompt

The **Waiting List** window opens after the appointment or attendance change has been saved. It
never stops the appointment being saved, and it can be dismissed without any effect.

Each suggestion is shown in its own panel, with the reason for it — for example *"This patient is
on the ENT waiting list with status Waiting. Would you like to update their status to Waiting and
Scheduled and set the TCI date to 14/11/2026?"* — and a switch, already on. The evidence that will
be recorded is shown underneath.

When the patient is on more than one linked list, or when several appointments or attendees were
changed at once, there is one panel per patient and list, each headed with the patient's name and
the list name. A patient on the same list is asked about once, even if more than one of their
appointments was changed.

1. Switch off any suggestion you don't want to make.
2. Select **Update** to make the changes that are still switched on, or **No change** to leave the
   waiting lists as they are.

Diarybook confirms *"Waiting list updated"*, or the number of lists updated. If one update fails,
it says which list could not be updated and carries on with the rest.

Changes made this way appear in the entry's **Log** with a **Prompted** badge, so they can be told
apart from changes made on the Change Status form. Closing the window, selecting **No change**, or
switching everything off makes no change and adds nothing to the log.

## Keeping entries open or removing them

The prompts follow one workflow: the entry stays on the list as Waiting and Scheduled once booked,
and becomes Attended once seen. Some services instead remove the entry with reason **Appointment
Scheduled** or **Appointment Attended**. The prompts never suggest a removal, so services that work
this way still change the status by hand, and may prefer not to link appointment types at all.
Whichever you choose, use it consistently within a list. See
[Choosing between keeping an entry open and removing it](/docs/waiting-lists/status-and-suspensions/#choosing-between-keeping-an-entry-open-and-removing-it).

## Common problems

**An appointment was booked but no prompt appeared**
Check, in order: that the appointment's type is linked to the list; that the patient's status was
Waiting or Attended at the time; and that this was a new appointment, not an edit to an existing
one. Patients in Awaiting Triage are not prompted for.

**An appointment was finished but the patient is still Waiting and Scheduled**
The prompt was dismissed, or the attendance was set to something other than **Finished**. Change
the status to Attended from the waiting list entry.

**An appointment was rescheduled and the TCI date is now wrong**
Editing an appointment doesn't prompt. Edit the waiting list entry and correct the **TCI /
Appointment Date**.

**Staff are prompted for appointments that aren't about the waiting list**
The appointment type is too broad. Either unlink it from the list, or create a separate
appointment type for the waiting list appointments and link only that.

**The prompt asks about a list the patient was meant to leave**
The patient still has an active entry on it. Answer **No change**, then remove the entry from the
list with the correct removal reason.

## Related

- [Status and Suspensions](/docs/waiting-lists/status-and-suspensions/) — what each status means
  and how to change it by hand.
- [Getting Started](/docs/waiting-lists/getting-started/#the-waiting-list-form) — the waiting list
  form.
- [Appointment Types](/docs/appointments/appointment-types/)
- [Attendance and DNA](/docs/appointments/attendance-and-dna/)

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Source: https://diarybook.com/docs/waiting-lists/appointments-and-waiting-lists/