> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.clinikehr.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Booking settings

> Set the hospital's opening hours, holidays, rooms and per-provider booking rules — the source of every slot a patient is offered.

export const StillStuck = ({topic}) => <div className="ck-callout ck-callout--note" role="note">
    <p className="ck-callout__body">
      <strong>Still stuck{topic ? ` with ${topic}` : ''}?</strong>{' '}
      Check <a href="/platform/help/troubleshooting">Troubleshooting</a> first —
      it covers the failures we see most often. If that does not resolve it,{' '}
      <a href="/platform/help/contact-support">contact support</a> and include
      your workspace name and the time the problem happened, so we can find the
      matching entry in your audit log.
    </p>
  </div>;

export const TaskHeader = ({before, time, after}) => <div className="ck-task">
    {before ? <div className="ck-task__cell">
        <div className="ck-task__title">Before you start</div>
        <p className="ck-task__body">{before}</p>
      </div> : null}

    {time ? <div className="ck-task__cell">
        <div className="ck-task__title">Takes about</div>
        <p className="ck-task__body">{time}</p>
      </div> : null}

    {after ? <div className="ck-task__cell">
        <div className="ck-task__title">When you're done</div>
        <p className="ck-task__body">{after}</p>
      </div> : null}
  </div>;

export const Path = ({steps = []}) => <span className="ck-path">
    {steps.map((s, i) => <span key={i} className="ck-path__step">
        {i > 0 ? <span className="ck-path__sep" aria-hidden="true">
            ›
          </span> : null}
        {s}
      </span>)}
  </span>;

export const Availability = ({editions = ['all'], plans, roles, note}) => {
  const list = editions.includes('all') ? ['clinic', 'pharmacy', 'lims'] : editions;
  return <div className="ck-avail" role="note" aria-label="Feature availability">
      <span className="ck-avail__label">Available in</span>

      {list.map(e => <span key={e} className={`ck-pill ck-pill--${e}`}>
          {EDITION_LABELS[e] || e}
        </span>)}

      {plans ? <span className="ck-avail__label">Plan</span> : null}
      {plans ? <span className="ck-pill ck-pill--plan">{plans}</span> : null}

      {roles ? <span className="ck-avail__label">Who</span> : null}
      {roles ? <span className="ck-pill ck-pill--role">{roles}</span> : null}

      {note ? <span className="ck-avail__note">{note}</span> : null}
    </div>;
};

<Availability editions={['clinic']} plans="Enterprise" roles="Owner, manager or accountant" />

This is where availability comes from. Every time a slot is offered — at the front desk or on the public booking page — it was produced here, then reduced by what is already booked. If patients are seeing no times, this tab is almost always the answer.

<Path steps={['Sidebar', 'Settings', 'Patient Experience', 'Booking Settings']} />

<TaskHeader before="Your real opening hours, and how long a slot should be" time="15 minutes for a first schedule" after="Bookable time appearing on the calendar and the booking page" />

## What this tab controls

**Appointment Settings** — "Configure availability, special dates, and communication preferences" — across five tabs.

| Tab                       | What it holds                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
| ------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Availability** (Hours)  | **Clinic Availability** — "Set your clinic's operating hours and available time slots." A table of schedules by **Day · Hours · Slot Duration · Max Bookings · Venue · Staff · Status**, with **Add Schedule** |
| **Booking Rules** (Rules) | Per-provider booking policy — how far ahead and how close to the appointment a patient may book, and how much notice a change needs                                                                            |
| **Resources** (Rooms)     | The rooms and equipment a service can require, so two appointments never claim the same one                                                                                                                    |
| **Special Dates** (Dates) | "Manage holidays, off-days, and special operating hours", with **Add Special Date**                                                                                                                            |
| **Communication** (Comms) | Confirmation settings, reminder settings and message templates                                                                                                                                                 |

A schedule is the unit of work here: a day, a time range, a slot length, a maximum number of bookings, a venue and optionally a named staff member. A hospital normally has several — one per clinic session, per provider or per venue.

## Set it up

<Steps>
  <Step title="Add your first schedule">
    On **Availability**, select **Add Schedule**. Set the day, the start and end time, the **Slot Duration** and the **Max Bookings** for that block, then the venue.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Decide whose time it is">
    Leave the staff field empty for a schedule the whole hospital shares, or name a provider for a session only they run. A named schedule is what makes per-provider availability work.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Repeat for every session you actually run">
    Cover each day and each venue you offer. A day with no schedule has no bookable time at all — there is no implicit "we are open".
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set the booking rules">
    On **Booking Rules**, set each provider's notice periods. These narrow what a patient can pick without changing your hours.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add rooms and equipment">
    On **Resources**, add anything a service occupies. Services then require them in [Appointment services](/hospital/settings/appointment-services), and the engine keeps them from being double-booked.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Block the holidays">
    On **Special Dates**, add public holidays, training days and any date the hospital runs different hours. Do this for the year ahead in one sitting.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## What changes once you save

A saved schedule is live immediately, and it flows one way:

**Schedules — minus existing bookings — minus blocking calendar events — minus special dates — filtered by booking rules = the slots a patient is offered.**

* **The front-desk appointment sheet** starts offering the new times at once.
* **The public booking page** offers the same times, provided the page is published and the service is visible on it. This tab does not publish anything — see [Booking page designer](/hospital/settings/booking-page-designer).
* **A blocking subscription on [Calendar integrations](/hospital/settings/calendar-integrations)** removes that provider's time from the result, without creating an appointment.
* **A required resource** is reserved for the appointment's length, so a second booking needing the same room is not offered that slot.
* **Special dates** override the normal schedule for those dates only.

What does **not** change: appointments already booked. Shortening a schedule does not cancel or move anything already in the diary — it only stops new bookings landing there. Check the calendar for anything now outside hours and move it deliberately.

Changing a **Slot Duration** re-cuts future slots; it does not resize existing appointments.

## Check it worked

Open the appointment sheet, pick a service and a provider, and step through the next fortnight. You should see times on days you scheduled, nothing on days you did not, and nothing on a special date you blocked. Then open the public booking page in a private window and confirm the same days offer times.

## Common issues

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Visitors see no available times">
    Work down the chain in order. **1.** Is there a schedule covering that day at all — "No availability schedules configured yet" means no. **2.** Is the schedule's venue the one being booked? **3.** Is the schedule named to a provider the patient did not choose? **4.** Is the date a **Special Date**? **5.** Is a blocking calendar subscription covering it? **6.** Do the **Booking Rules** require more notice than the days on offer? **7.** Is the service visible on the booking page, and the page published?
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Times appear at the front desk but not on the booking page">
    That is the split by design: this tab produces the time, the booking page decides who may see it. Check **Allow Online Booking** and that at least one service is visible in the [Booking page designer](/hospital/settings/booking-page-designer).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="One provider has no availability and the rest do">
    Their schedules are missing, or every schedule is named to someone else. A schedule with no staff member is shared; a named one belongs only to that person.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="A room got double-booked">
    The service does not require that resource. Add it under **Resources** here, then add a **Required Resources** line to the service.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="I shortened our hours and appointments are still there">
    Changing a schedule never moves an existing appointment. Find them on the calendar and reschedule them yourself.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="A holiday was still bookable">
    A **Special Date** has to exist for that specific date. Add it, and re-check the booking page — patients who already booked keep their slot.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

<StillStuck />