Double booking protection

The diary will not let the same practitioner be in two places at once by accident. The rule is checked at the moment a booking is saved, not just on the screen you happen to be looking at, so it holds no matter where a booking comes from.

What is protected

A confirmed or pending appointment normally cannot overlap another confirmed or pending appointment for the same practitioner. Completed, cancelled and no-show records do not reserve the time in the same way. That applies to:

• Online bookings from your public page. A patient can never book on top of another patient.
• Reschedules: moving an appointment onto an occupied time is refused, whether you drag it or change the time in its drawer.
• Waitlist claim links: if two patients tap the same freed-slot offer, only the first claim books; the second sees Sorry, this appointment has just been taken and stays on the waitlist.
• Anything booked over blocked-out time, such as lunch or admin.

A double booking you choose

When a member of staff creates a single-treatment appointment in the diary and the time is already taken by another patient, the panel may offer a deliberate double booking. If it does, it names who is there and asks whether to book this patient as well. Press Book anyway, double booking to keep both appointments side by side, or Pick another time to back out. Nothing is saved until you choose.

That choice is never offered on your public booking page, never over a block, and never when you move an appointment. Online booking still shows the time as taken. The full guide: Booking two patients at the same time.

There is also an explicit overrun choice when adding a treatment to an existing confirmed visit. If the drawer offers Extend and overrun, it names the patient appointments the extra treatment overlaps and requires your confirmation. See Adding a treatment to a visit already in the diary. Reservation requests cannot double book.

What you see

If you move an appointment into an occupied time, or book over a block, you see That slot clashes with another appointment and nothing is saved. When you change the time in the drawer, the message also names what is in the way, for example It runs into Jane Smith at 14:30 or It runs into LUNCH at 13:00, so you know which booking to move. Choose a different time and save again.

Why checking at the moment of saving matters

Two people can be using the diary at the same moment: you at the desk, a patient booking online, another patient tapping a claim link. Because the rule is checked when the booking is written, not when the page was loaded, the first one in wins cleanly and the other is refused. If the diary changes while a double booking question is on screen, nothing is booked and you are asked to check the time and try again.

Different practitioners

The rule is per practitioner. Two different practitioners can, of course, see patients at the same time; that is a normal clinic day, not a clash.