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Bank Holidays/Holiday Closures
Bank Holidays/Holiday Closures

Bank holidays are usually added to your Calendar automatically. They can be added or removed in the Configuration Console.

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Changing the automatic Bank Holiday settings

Bank holidays are usually added to your Calendar automatically. They can be added or removed in the Configuration Console

When the Bank Holiday Mode is active on the calendar, there is a pre-set message (using a Prompt in the call flow) that gives the following information:

“We are closed on all public bank holidays. If you require assistance which cannot wait until we reopen, call 111, or if you are in need of emergency medical assistance, please dial 999.”

This message can be changed in the call flow using X-flow. You can also change your Welcome message through X-flow, to give patients advance warning of holiday closures, for example;

"Please note we will be closed on Christmas Day, Boxing day and Tuesday 27th December. Normal service will resume on Wednesday 28th December. We will also be closed on New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day and Monday 2nd January 2023. We will reopen on Tuesday 3rd January 2023"

If you have Bank Holidays added to your Calendar, any ad hoc Bank Holidays (for example the coronation of King Charles III in 2023) are also added automatically

This guide will take you through everything you may need to do to change your Bank Holiday settings

Step by step guide

Accessing Calendars

  1. Log in to Surgery Connect - sso.x-onweb.com - with your NHS email address and Surgery Connect password

  2. Select the Configuration Console

  3. Click on Calendars in the left hand side menu

  4. The calendars table will display

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Editing Calendars

  1. Identify the Calendar you want to edit

  2. Click on the edit (pen) icon

  3. The selected Calendar will open

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How to add or remove all Bank Holiday Events

You can add or remove all Bank Holiday for your calendar quickly

  1. Toggle Use Public Holidays to Yes

  2. Chose your Public holiday mode for the Bank Holidays so that callers can be routed to the correct call flow and prompt message

  3. To remove Bank Holidays from your calendar toggle Use Public Holidays to No

  4. Save your changes

  5. The changes will be saved automatically and you will see the green Success or a red Error message at the top of the screen

    Any issues will be detailed in the Error pop ups

  6. Cancel will close the window without making any changes

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Deleting one instance of a recurring event

For example, to open the phone lines of a specific Bank Holiday

Once you have found your calendar through the Configuration Console and clicked edit the full calendar view will display

  1. Use the Navigation Arrows to move to the date needed on the calendar

  2. Select the event you want to remove from your calendar

  3. A pop up will appear, to edit (delete) the event click EDIT

  4. This will open the Event Manager

  5. Click Delete to remove that single event

    You will see a warning message pop up when using Delete

    CANCEL - will return you to the Event Manager

    CONFIRM - will delete the selected event only

    DELETEALL - will remove all instances of the event from the calendar

  6. Click CONFIRM to delete that event only - this will keep all other Bank Holidays in your Calendar

    Once the event has been deleted you will see it has been removed from your calendar

  7. Close your calendar

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Editing Prompts

  1. Log in to Surgery Connect - sso.x-onweb.com - with your NHS email address and Surgery Connect password

  2. To manage or edit existing call flows, navigate to the X-flow Console

  3. Don't forget - if you are already logged into a Surgery Connect console, you can navigate to any other console quickly by using the Menu, next to your initials

  4. Or; Access the console switch via the User Menu on your Phonebar

  5. At the top left hand corner click on the Load button

  6. The Load Call Flow window will open, with a list of all of the call flows for your surgery. Select the call flow you want to edit and click Load

  7. Your call flow will now be loaded onto the X-flow Workspace

Changing the Bank Holiday Prompt

The Bank Holiday Prompt is played when the Calendar is in Holiday Mode and will have a standard message. You may want to change this to suit your Surgery circumstances or to recognise an additional Bank Holiday

  1. Double click on the Holiday Prompt block to open up the editable properties

  2. Select the Audio tab

  3. In the Prompt Text box add your additional wording

    For example,

    Please note we are closed today, in honour of the Kings Coronation. Normal service will resume tomorrow (insert this before your clinical advice warning)

    NOTE: This will apply to all Bank Holidays, so you will need to change it for next time

  4. Click Save

    Any changes you have made to your Prompt Block will be saved

  5. At the top of your call flow you will now see the undeployed version warning

  6. If you are happy with your Prompt Block - Deploy your call flow to make it live

    Remember to give this version of your call flow a descriptive name, so you can revert back to your previous call flow quickly

Changing the Greeting to warn of an upcoming Bank Holiday

You can change your Welcome prompt to give additional warning of an upcoming Bank Holiday

  1. Double click on the Welcome Prompt block to open up the editable properties

  2. Select the Audio tab

  3. In the Prompt Text box add your additional wording

    For example,

    Please note we will be closed next Monday, 8th May, in honour of the Kings Coronation. Normal service will resume on Tuesday. (insert this before your clinical advice warning)

    Or, We will not be closed next Monday, 8th May

    NOTE: This will need changing back after the Bank Holiday

  4. Click Save

    Any changes you have made to your Prompt Block will be saved

  5. At the top of your call flow you will now see the undeployed version warning

  6. If you are happy with your Prompt Block - Deploy your call flow to make it live

    Remember to give this version of your call flow a descriptive name, so you can revert back to your previous call flow quickly

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