Two surgeries, one surgery room
Your clinic has three treatment rooms and four podiatrists across the week. One room has the setup your podiatrists use for nail surgery. Another has space for the treadmill and pressure plate. The shockwave machine lives in whichever room last used it. Each podiatrist has their own diary.
On Wednesday morning, two podiatrists have nail surgery booked at ten. On Thursday, a biomechanical assessment is booked in a room where the treadmill will not fit. The shockwave machine is booked for two patients at once in different rooms. Each clash is found on the day, and someone reshuffles.
Why clashes keep happening
- The clinic diary is organised by practitioner, and rooms are assigned informally.
- Appointment types that need specific rooms or kit are not tied to them in the system.
- Portable equipment moves between rooms and nobody records where it is.
- Associates and part-time staff do not see each other's bookings.
- Online booking offers slots without checking whether the room or machine is free.
The root cause is that the diary knows who is working, but not what they need to do the work.
What clashes cost
Appointments moved on the day, patients kept waiting, surgery postponed. Specialist equipment sitting idle on some days and double-booked on others. Friction between practitioners. And reception time spent solving puzzles that the diary should have prevented.
| Appointment type | Needs | Clash today |
|---|---|---|
| Nail surgery | Room set up for surgery | Two surgeries at once |
| Biomechanical assessment | Room with treadmill and space | Booked in a small room |
| Shockwave session | Shockwave machine | Two sessions at once |
| Verruca microwave treatment | Microwave device | Device in another room |
| Routine care | Any treatment room | Rarely a problem |
How we build room and equipment booking
- Rooms and key equipment are set up as resources: each room with what it can host, each machine with where it can be used.
- Each appointment type is tied to what it needs: nail surgery to the surgery room, gait analysis to a room with the treadmill, shockwave to the machine.
- When an appointment is booked, by reception, a podiatrist or online, the system checks the resource is free and blocks clashes.
- Where your system supports resources, such as through Cliniko or WriteUpp's own features, we configure them. Where it does not, we add a booking check alongside it.
- A weekly rota shows which practitioner has which room when, including associates, so everyone can see the plan.
- Moveable equipment is booked out to a room for the session, so its location is known.
- A simple view shows use of each room and machine, which helps when deciding whether to buy a second device or change the rota.
Preparation and cleaning time can be attached to appointment types that need it, so a room used for nail surgery is not offered for the next slot before it has been turned round.
What the week looks like afterwards
Nail surgeries do not collide. Gait analysis happens in the room it was designed for. Machines are where they need to be. Online booking offers only slots that genuinely work. Practitioners see the shared plan. And reception stops solving room puzzles at eight in the morning.
The use view also takes the guesswork out of investment decisions. If the shockwave machine is booked solid on two days and idle on three, the answer may be a rota change rather than a second machine.
Is your diary missing rooms and kit?
- Two practitioners have needed the same room or machine at the same time.
- Rooms are assigned informally or on a whiteboard.
- Online booking can book specialist appointments into the wrong room.
- You are not always sure where the portable equipment is.
- Associates cannot see how rooms are used across the week.