Please note: The following feature is available as part of Birdie’s Starter, Core, Advanced, Plus, Care Management and Advanced Care Management packages (Also known as Care Management & Rostering, Care Management, Rostering & Finance, Premium) Please get in touch if interested in more information on this feature!
You will need to add an availability schedule for your Care Professional so that they can be matched on visits. To add availability for someone in your care team, go to the Team tab, and look for a Care professional by typing into the search bar or by scrolling down the page.
Click on the Care Professional's name and then on the Availability tab in the left-hand bar. When you first set up a Care Professional the Availability tab will be blank. Click on Create availability schedule.
A pop-up box will now appear where you can add the Care Professional's availability schedule.
You can choose the frequency of the availability schedule:
Daily - if the carer has the same schedule recurring every day of the week - e.g. every day 8-11 am.
Weekly - to select specific days in the week that they are available to work - e.g. every Tuesday and Thursday 4 pm - 8 pm
Custom - to add a schedule that repeats every other day or week (see below for how to create a schedule on alternate weeks)
You can define the times the availability schedule applies to
You can set the start date of the availability schedule
You can include an end date for the availability schedule, for example, if you need to set some temporary availabilities.
When you are done adding the information, click Save changes. You will now see this availability has populated their page and the Roster tab.
Please note: Care professionals cannot book or request holidays via the Birdie app.
Setting availability for alternate weeks
You may need to create a different schedule for alternate weeks. To do that, click on the Add availability button, then select Custom.
For alternate weeks, set the schedule to repeat every 2 weeks. You can then select the days the first week's schedule applies to, and add the first date the carer is available to work (e.g. 1st Jan).
After this, repeat the step to add the second week's availability, and add a start date of one week later (e.g. 8th Jan).
Once you have saved the changes, you will be able to see the two alternate weeks reflect in the Care Professional's availability schedule. The week with no availability will show No availability, when you click on the week after, the schedule will appear again.
You can add as many availability schedules as needed.
This information will now flow into all other parts of the system, including the weekly rota and the visit schedule. Head to the Roster tab to see for yourself!
How to view a Care Professional's availability
To view a care professional's availability, go to your Team tab, and look for them by typing into the search bar or by scrolling down the page. Click on the care professional, then on the Availability tab in the left-hand bar.
On this screen, you can view future and past weeks of availability by clicking on the left and right arrows at the top of the screen.
How to delete availability for a Care Professional
To delete a Care professional's availability, go into their Availability tab. Select the availability you want to delete by clicking on it and then click on Delete Availability.
If your Care professional is absent due to sickness or annual leave, you should add this as an absence rather than deleting the availability. For more information on how to do this, read this article - How to book and cancel absences for a care professional.
You can choose to delete only this single instance, or all following instances in the availability schedule also.
When you delete an availability, this automatically removes the Care Professional from any assigned visits, giving you immediate visibility of the visits for which you need to find an alternative carer in the rota.
No need to remember to go and remove them from the rota later. This helps mitigate the risk of assigning a visit to a carer who is not available to work, and of missed visits.
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