Getting Started

This page walks through creating and configuring a waiting list in Diarybook, including choosing the list type, understanding target waiting times, and customising targets to match your service’s requirements.

Where to find waiting lists

Waiting lists are managed from the Clients area of Diarybook. The Clients area has four sections: Clients List, Client Groups, Waiting Lists and Deleted Clients. The Waiting Lists section is where all your active lists are displayed and managed.

Creating a waiting list

There are two ways to create a waiting list: adding a new list from scratch, or converting an existing client group.

Adding a new list

1. Go to the Waiting Lists section.
2. Click Add New in the toolbar.
3. Complete the form (see below) and save.

Converting a client group

If you already have a client group that functions as an informal waiting list, you can convert it directly rather than recreating it from scratch.

1. Go to the Client Groups section.
2. Tick the client group you want to convert.
3. Click Group Menu in the toolbar.
4. Select Convert To Waiting List.

When a client group is converted, its members are carried across and the group moves from the Client Groups section into the Waiting Lists section. It will no longer appear under Client Groups.

The waiting list form

Whether you are adding a new list or converting a group, the form has five fields:

Public List Name — the name that identifies this list across Diarybook. Choose something clear and specific to the service, for example “ENT Outpatient” or “Ophthalmology Day Case.” This name is also used on any patient-facing validation pages, so it should be recognisable to patients as well as staff.

List Type — the type of care patients on this list are waiting for. There are three options:

• OPD (Outpatient) — for patients waiting for a clinic appointment, whether a first visit or a follow-up.
• Inpatient — for patients waiting for admission that involves an overnight stay.
• Day Case — for patients waiting for a procedure that does not require an overnight stay.

The list type determines which default target waiting times are applied and how the breach date is labelled in the list view (Appointment By for OPD, Admit By for Inpatient and Day Case).

Target Days — Urgent, Soon, Routine — these three fields set the maximum waiting time for each priority level. When you select a list type, the fields are automatically populated with default values:

These defaults reflect commonly used waiting time targets. They are starting points — your service may operate against different targets depending on specialty, commissioning arrangements or local policy.

Customising targets

The three target fields are initially disabled to prevent accidental changes to the defaults. To edit them:

1. Click the Customise button on the form.
2. The target fields become editable.
3. Enter the values appropriate for your service.
4. Save the list.

When customising, keep the following in mind:

The unit matters. Targets can be expressed in days, weeks or working days. The unit is set at the list level and applies to all three priority targets on that list. If your service policy states “patients should be seen within 10 working days,” set the unit to working days and enter 10. If the policy says “within 12 weeks,” set the unit to weeks and enter 12. Working days exclude weekends and public holidays.

Targets drive breach dates. When a patient is added to the list, the breach date is calculated from their join date plus the target for their priority. Getting the target right at setup means breach dates are accurate from day one and your team can trust the list view to highlight who needs attention.

You can change targets later. Editing a waiting list (using the Edit button in the toolbar on the Waiting Lists section) allows you to update the targets at any time. Changes to targets apply to new entries going forward — existing entries retain the breach date that was set when they were added, ensuring that patients already on the list are not retrospectively affected.

The waiting lists view

Once you have one or more lists, the Waiting Lists section displays them with the following columns:

• List Name — the public name you assigned.
• Type — OPD, Inpatient or Day Case.
• Waiting — the number of patients currently on the list.

From here you can click Add New to create another list, or Edit to change the name, type or targets of an existing list. Clicking on a list opens the list view showing all patients on that list, which is covered in the next page.

A note on planning your lists

Before creating lists, it is worth deciding how to organise them. The most common approach is one list per clinic or specialty — for example, a single “Cardiology OPD” list and a separate “Cardiology Day Case” list. This mirrors how most services schedule and report, and makes filtering straightforward.

Avoid creating overly broad lists (such as a single list for all outpatients across all specialties) as they become difficult to manage once numbers grow. Equally, avoid creating lists that are too narrow (one list per consultant within a specialty) unless your scheduling genuinely operates at that level — it is usually better to use the Assigned User feature to divide work within a single list.

Next steps

Once your list is set up, the next step is adding patients and working with the list day to day:

• Adding and Managing Clients on a Waiting List — adding patients, setting priority, understanding the list columns and using filters.