Field note
Buffers that become overflow shelves
Ten-minute buffers look tidy on a template and vanish by week three. Here is how overflow creeps in — and how reviews catch it.
Almost every clinic template includes short buffers between appointments. In live diaries, those buffers often become shelves for “just one more” message, a squeezed-in recall, or a late runner from the previous slot.
How the pattern appears on paper
In a Scheduling Performance Review we look for buffers that are booked solid on certain weekdays while neighbouring day-parts still show idle time. The combination usually means the buffer is not protecting clinical time — it is absorbing overflow from an uneven book.
A restrained response
Reclaiming every buffer overnight rarely works. Teams that succeed pick one weekday, restore buffers there first, and move predictable overflow to emptier day-parts with consent from the clinicians who live with the change.
Tie-in to rosters
When buffers vanish, overtime often follows. Pairing diary annotation with a Roster Pattern Assessment shows whether the overtime is a staffing shortage or a booking habit.