Changing Status and Suspensions

Every waiting list entry has a status that reflects where the patient is in their waiting journey. This page explains each status, how to transition between them, and what information is required at each step.

The statuses

Diarybook uses five statuses for waiting list entries:

Status	Meaning
Waiting	The patient is on the list and has not yet been given a date. This is the default status when a patient is first added.
Scheduled	A TCI (To Come In) date has been set. The patient knows when they are expected to attend.
Attended	The patient attended their appointment or admission.
Suspended	The patient’s entry is temporarily paused. The waiting time clock stops while the entry is suspended.
Removed	The patient has been taken off the list, with a documented reason.

How to change status

Open the waiting list entry by clicking on the patient’s row in the list view.
In the WL Entry section, click Change Status in the toolbar.
Select the new status.
Complete the required fields (these vary by status — see below).
Save.

Every status change requires a reason or evidence text — a free-text field where the user records why the change is being made. This is logged alongside the change and forms part of the audit trail.

Status transitions in detail

Waiting → Scheduled

Use this when a TCI date has been arranged for the patient.

The form gives you the option to enter or update the TCI date. If a TCI date was already set on the entry, it is shown and can be changed.

A note is displayed on the form: “Please note that this option will not remove the patient from the waiting list. An alternative is to choose ‘Remove’ and select the reason as ‘Appointment Scheduled’.”

This is an important distinction. Setting the status to Scheduled means the patient remains on the list with a date assigned — useful when you want to continue tracking them until they actually attend. If your workflow treats scheduling as the end of the waiting list journey, use Remove with the reason “Appointment Scheduled” instead.

Waiting → Attended

Use this when the patient has attended without first being moved to Scheduled — for example, if they were seen at short notice or through a cancellation slot.

As with Scheduled, the Attended status keeps the entry on the list for tracking purposes. If your workflow treats attendance as the point of completion, use Remove with the reason “Appointment Attended” instead.

Waiting → Suspended

Use this when the patient is temporarily unable or unwilling to proceed. See the dedicated section on suspensions below.

Waiting → Removed

Use this when the patient should be taken off the list entirely. See the section on removal below.

Scheduled → Attended

The natural progression — the patient had a TCI date and attended.

Scheduled → Waiting

Use this if a scheduled date falls through and the patient returns to the active waiting pool. The TCI date is cleared and the patient resumes their position based on their breach date.

Scheduled → Suspended

Use this if a patient who was scheduled becomes temporarily unavailable. The TCI date remains on the entry but the clock pauses.

Scheduled → Removed

Use this if a scheduled patient needs to be taken off the list — for example, if the appointment was cancelled and the patient no longer requires it.

Suspended → Waiting

The most common resumption path. The suspension ends, the accumulated suspended days are added to the running total, and the patient returns to the active list. The breach date adjusts forward by the number of days suspended.

Suspended → Scheduled

Use this if a TCI date has been arranged while the patient was suspended and they are now ready to proceed. The suspension ends and the TCI date is set in one step.

Suspended → Removed

Use this if a suspended patient is taken off the list — for example, if they were suspended due to being medically unfit and it is subsequently determined that the procedure is no longer appropriate.

Suspensions

Suspensions pause the waiting time clock. They are used when a patient is temporarily unable to attend but still requires their place on the list. Common reasons include the patient being medically unfit, requesting a deferral for personal reasons, being pregnant, receiving treatment elsewhere, or awaiting investigation results.

Suspending an entry

When changing the status to Suspended, two additional fields are required:

Suspension Reason — select from the available reasons:

Reason	When to use
Medically Unfit	The patient is not well enough to attend or undergo the procedure.
Patient Request	The patient has asked to defer — for example, due to holiday, work or family commitments.
Pregnancy	The patient is pregnant and the procedure or appointment should be deferred.
Treatment Elsewhere	The patient is receiving related treatment at another service that must complete first.
Awaiting Investigations	Results or reports are needed before the appointment or procedure can proceed.
Other	Any reason not covered above. Use the reason text to explain.

Suspension Start Date — the date from which the clock should pause. This defaults to today but can be backdated where the reason for suspension began earlier — for example, if the patient called on Monday to say they became unfit the previous week.

Resuming a suspended entry

When changing from Suspended to any other status, a Suspension End Date is required. This is the date the suspension period concludes. The number of days between the suspension start and end dates is added to the cumulative suspended days total on the entry.

Once resumed, the breach date displayed on the list view shifts forward by the number of days that were suspended, reflecting the fact that the clock was paused during that period. An indicator alongside the breach date shows that a suspension adjustment has been applied. See Understanding Breach Dates and Targets for details on how this calculation works.

Suspension history

All suspensions are recorded and visible on the WL Entry section of the waiting list entry. Each record shows the reason, start date, end date, any notes, who created it and when. If a patient has been suspended more than once, the full history is listed — and the cumulative suspended days reflect the total across all suspension periods.

Removal

Removing a patient from the list is a permanent action within the context of that waiting list entry. The entry remains visible for audit and reporting purposes but is no longer part of the active list.

When changing the status to Removed, a Removal Reason is required:

Reason	When to use
Appointment Scheduled	The patient has been given a date and the waiting list entry is no longer needed. Use this when your workflow treats scheduling as the end of the waiting list journey rather than using the Scheduled status.
Appointment Attended	The patient has attended. Use this when your workflow treats attendance as the completion point.
Patient Request	The patient has asked to be removed — they no longer want or need the appointment or procedure.
Deceased	The patient has died.
Transferred Elsewhere	The patient has been transferred to another service or provider.
Clinically No Longer Required	A clinician has determined that the appointment or procedure is no longer needed.
Unable To Contact	All reasonable attempts to contact the patient have been exhausted.
Did Not Attend	The patient failed to attend a scheduled appointment and has not been re-listed.

The removal reason is logged alongside the date and the user who made the change. Where patients are removed following a validation cycle (see Client Validation), the validation response provides the supporting evidence.

The audit log

Every status change — along with the user who made it, the date, the previous status, the new status and the reason text — is recorded in the Log section of the waiting list entry. This log is append-only and cannot be edited or deleted.

The log provides a complete history of the patient’s journey through the waiting list: when they were added, any priority or detail changes, every suspension and resumption, and how and why they were ultimately removed or marked as attended. This is important both for internal governance and for responding to any queries about a patient’s waiting time.

Choosing between Scheduled/Attended and Removed

Diarybook deliberately offers two paths for patients who have been given a date or who have attended:

Scheduled or Attended status — the entry stays on the active list. Use this if your team tracks patients through to attendance and wants to see them on the list until the process is fully complete.
Removed with reason Appointment Scheduled or Appointment Attended — the entry is closed. Use this if your workflow considers the waiting list journey finished once a date is given or the patient is seen.

Neither approach is more correct than the other — it depends on how your service operates. The important thing is to be consistent within a list so that the Waiting count and active list view reflect what your team expects.

Next steps

Client Validation — how outbound validation works, what patients see, and how responses feed back into the list.
Understanding Breach Dates and Targets — how breach dates are calculated and how suspensions affect them.