Before you start
Surgical theatre is the only care area that starts off, because most sites that sign up do not operate. An owner turns it on in Settings → Facility — see Care areas. Theatres are added under Settings → Theatre; see Set up theatres.What you’re looking at
A day picker chooses the day, Refresh re-reads it, and Book case adds to it. Four tiles run across the top:
Each tile shows an em dash while it loads, never a zero — so a number on screen is always a real count.
Each row shows the times, the case number, the procedure, then patient · theatre · side, with the status badge on the right. Delayed shows in red; Cancelled is deliberately muted, because a cancelled case is not an error. Urgency appears only when it is not Elective.
An empty day reads No cases scheduled / Nothing is booked for this day. With no theatres created, a line under the board says: “No theatres are set up yet. Add them in Settings → Theatre; a case can still be booked without one, and assigned later.”
Book a case
1
Select Book case
The Book a theatre case sheet opens. Its own description tells you the important part: The case number is generated automatically.
2
Choose the patient and the procedure
Find them with Search patients…, then enter the Procedure — the field’s example is “e.g. Laparoscopic appendicectomy”. Set Side to Left, Right, Bilateral or leave it Not applicable.
3
Set urgency, coding, theatre and time
Urgency is Elective, Urgent or Emergency; Procedure code and ASA grade are optional. Pick a Theatre — only active rooms are offered — or leave it unassigned and allocate later. Set Start and End; the end must be after the start.
4
Name the care team
Under Care team, choose the Primary surgeon, Anaesthetist and Scrub nurse, each of which can stay Unassigned. Add anything the team needs beforehand under Pre-operative notes.
5
Select Book case
You get Case booked — It now appears on the theatre list. If the room is taken you are told plainly: “That theatre is already booked for part of this time. Choose another room or another slot.”
Work the case
Selecting a case opens its sheet, in three sections.Surgical safety checklist
Three phases, each with its own items and a checked-of-total badge:
New hospitals start on the standard WHO Surgical Safety Checklist (2009); an owner can customise it under Settings → Theatre. Ticking is deliberately open to everyone in the room — a team instrument, not a surgeon’s form — and each tick saves as you make it.
What an incomplete phase does depends on one switch, Require the checklist before a case advances, off by default. Off, the sheet says Gaps are recorded but do not stop the case. and you get a note like “Time out is incomplete — 3 of 7 items not confirmed.” On, it says This clinic requires each phase to be complete before the case advances. and the button is disabled until it is.
Status
The Status section offers a Move to button for each legal next state:
Cancel case opens Cancel this case, warning that “A cancelled case cannot be reopened — going ahead later means booking a new case.” A Reason is required before the button will fire. Terminal states are honest dead ends rather than hidden buttons: This case is completed. A correction is recorded as an amendment, not a status change. and This case was cancelled. Schedule a new case rather than reopening it.
Operation note
Enter Findings, Procedure and Post-operative instructions. Save draft keeps it editable. Download PDF works at any point — a draft is stamped as unsigned, so an unfinished note can be read on paper without ever looking final.Who can do this
Your role decides whether the Theatre group opens at all, and whether an owner has hidden it from that role under Role navigation. Permissions decide each act inside it:
Enforcement is opt-in per person — someone never saved in the permissions sheet is unrestricted, and the sheet warns “Saving starts enforcing”. A denied action is written to the audit log; an allowed one is not. Hiding the group from a role’s sidebar is a convenience, not a security boundary. See Staff permissions.
Check it worked
- The case sits on the list for the right day, with a generated case number.
- Each checklist phase shows its checked-of-total badge.
- The In theatre and In recovery tiles move as you advance the case.
- A signed note shows a Signed badge and its three fields are read-only.
Common issues
Two-factor verification is required to view the theatre list.
Two-factor verification is required to view the theatre list.
A signed-in session is not enough for theatre records. Sign in again and complete your second factor — see Two-factor authentication.
A case cannot be completed
A case cannot be completed
“A case can only be completed from recovery.” Move it to recovery first. Cancelling is not offered from recovery either.
I signed the note too early
I signed the note too early
A signed note is not editable, and a second attempt to sign is refused. Record a correction as an amendment — the original stays intact, which is what makes the record trustworthy.
FAQ
Can I book a case before the theatre exists?
Can I book a case before the theatre exists?
Yes. Leave Theatre unassigned and allocate the room later. Booking is never blocked on the estate being configured.
Where does the case number come from?
Where does the case number come from?
ClinikEHR mints it per hospital when the case is created. You never type one, and it cannot be edited afterwards.
Should we turn on checklist enforcement?
Should we turn on checklist enforcement?
Most theatres deliberately leave it off. A system that refuses to let an operation proceed because a box is unticked tends to get worked around. Turn it on only if your governance requires it.
Where do I find last month's cases?
Where do I find last month's cases?
On Case history, which searches across days by case number or procedure. A live case can also be rescheduled from there; a completed or cancelled one cannot.