The Waitlist is a queue of people for whom there was no free slot. You record when and with whom they would like to come — and when someone else cancels an appointment matching those preferences, Heltio reaches out to them on its own.
The point of this feature is recovering cancelled slots. Without it, a cancellation is simply a hole in the day.
How to do it
Open the panel
In the calendar click Waitlist. The same queue sits on the reception dashboard as a Waitlist card with an All link.
Add someone to the queue
Add to Waitlist opens a form:
- Patient — search by surname.
- Service type — it has to match the service type of the cancelled appointment for a match to happen.
- Priority — Normal, High, Urgent.
- Preferred Date Range — From and To.
- Preferred Time — Earliest Time and Latest Time; empty means "any time of day".
- Preferred Practitioner (optional) — or Any available.
- Notes.
Saving is confirmed with Patient added to waitlist.
Know what happens after a cancellation
When an appointment is cancelled, Heltio looks for entries with the same Service type, a date range covering that slot, a matching time window and a matching (or any) practitioner.
From the matches it takes at most three — first by priority, then by the order they were added — moves them to Notified and sends a push notification and an email about the free slot. The message reserves nothing: whoever calls back first gets the slot.
Book a slot for someone waiting
Every entry has three actions: Book Now, Edit, Delete. Book Now opens Book Patient and lets you tie the entry to a specific upcoming appointment; the entry then moves to Booked.
If there is nothing free in the preferred window, Heltio will say No free slots found in the preferred window — pick a time manually.
Read the entry states
Waiting — waiting for a match. Notified — has been told about a free slot. Booked — settled. Expired — its preferred date range has passed and Heltio closed the entry itself. Cancelled, Skipped — removed by hand.
Freed slot — book in two clicks
When someone cancels a visit and the slot suits people on the list, Heltio immediately shows the Appointment cancelled dialog with the matching people. The same signal appears on the notification bell, next to the Waitlist button in the calendar and in the Waitlist card on the reception dashboard (Freed slots). The Book into this slot button books the chosen person straight away — Heltio confirms Booked from the waitlist. If someone has already taken the slot, you will see Slot already taken.
When something goes wrong
Only WAITING entries can be updated.
What this means: An attempt to edit an entry that is no longer **Waiting** — because it has been notified, booked or has expired.
Waitlist entry not found.
What this means: The entry has been deleted or booked by someone else in the meantime.
Failed to add to waitlist.
What this means: The save did not go through — most often because a required field is missing or because of a temporary connection problem.
Waitlist is empty.
What this means: Nobody is waiting — or all the entries have expired because their date range has passed.
Who has access
Clinic Admin ReceptionistAdding requires the permission to create appointments, removing an entry — the permission to cancel them. A practitioner can see the queue, but in practice reception runs it. The waitlist is a plan-gated feature: on a plan without it, Heltio takes you to the plan change page instead of opening the panel.
Related
- Appointment list — bulk cancellation, which triggers matching.
- Adding an appointment — for when a slot is found.
- Notification preferences — the patient can turn these notifications off on their side.
Related features
Calendar — week grid and list view
The main working screen of the practice: a full 24-hour grid across the week, a switch to the appointment list, filters, drag-and-drop rescheduling and time blocking.
Adding an appointment
How to book a patient: click an empty spot on the calendar, or use the New Appointment button. What the warnings about a busy slot and about working hours mean.
Appointment list — filters, printing and bulk actions
The table view of the calendar: narrowing by status, payment and visit card, CSV export, reminders and no-shows marked in bulk, printing a day or a week.
My notification preferences
Your own settings — what Heltio should remind you about, how loudly, on which device, and during which hours it should stay quiet.