Departments

The Departments module organizes your clinic into distinct operational units. Departments act as a grouping layer across the platform — patients, services, staff, expenses, and lab tests can all be assigned to a department, giving you structured visibility into how each part of your clinic operates.

Accessing the Module

Sidebar → Departments

Direct URL:

https://yourdomain.com/dashboard/departments

Who can access:

Only Admin accounts can create, edit, or delete departments. All other roles have view-only access.

Departments List

The main departments page shows a complete list of all clinic departments.

Each row displays:

• Department name

• Department code

• Head of department

• Location

• Phone

• Status badge (active / inactive)

• Budget

• Action buttons (edit, delete)

Creating a Department

Click the Add Department button on the departments list page. A dialog opens with the department creation form.

Required Fields

Optional Fields

Identity:

Location and Contact:

Leadership:

Financial:

Status:

Saving the Department

Click Save to create the department. It appears immediately in the departments list and becomes available as a department option across the platform — in patients, services, staff, expenses, and lab test categories.

Department names must be unique. Attempting to create two departments with the same name will return a validation error.

Editing a Department

Click the Edit button on any department row. The edit form opens with all existing values pre-filled.

Update any fields and click Save. Changes take effect immediately across all linked records.

Changing a department name updates the name everywhere it is displayed across the platform since all references use the department ID (UUID), not the name string.

Department Head Assignment

The department head can be recorded in two ways:

Option A — Free text (Head of Department): Enter the department head's name as plain text. This is a simple label with no system link.

Option B — Linked user (Head ID): Link the department head to an actual user account in the system by selecting from the users list.

Linking to a user account creates a formal FK relationship (departments.head_id → users.id) that can be used in reporting queries to identify which staff member leads each department.

Both fields can be used simultaneously — the free text name for display and the user ID for system queries. If the linked user is deleted, head_id is set to null automatically (ON DELETE SET NULL).

Budget Tracking

Each department has two budget fields:

These are informational fields — CareNova does not automatically enforce spending limits against the budget values. They are used for reference and can be compared against actual expenses using the Expenses module.

Comparing Budget vs Actual Spend

To see how a department's actual expenses compare to its budget:

1. Sidebar → Expenses

2. Filter expenses by department

3. Sum the expense amounts for the period

4. Compare against the department's budget value in the Departments list

A future version of CareNova may include automatic budget vs expense reporting at the department level. For now this comparison is done manually.

Deactivating a Department

If a department is being closed or restructured but has existing records linked to it, deactivate it rather than deleting it.

Edit the department → toggle Active to off → Save.

Deactivated departments:

• Are hidden from assignment dropdowns across the platform

• Preserve all historical links to patients, services, staff, and expenses

• Can be reactivated at any time

Deleting a Department

Click the Delete option from the department row action menu.

A confirmation dialog appears before deletion.

⚠️ Deleting a department sets department_id to null on all linked records — patients, services, staff, expenses, users, and test categories (ON DELETE SET NULL). The linked records themselves are preserved but lose the department reference. Deactivate instead of delete when historical records exist.

Department Dependencies

Departments are referenced across many modules. Before deleting or restructuring a department, be aware of what is linked to it:

Database Schema Reference

departments

Relationship to Other Modules

Workflow Examples

Setting up departments for a new multi-specialty clinic:

1. Sidebar → Departments → Add Department

2. Create: General Medicine

   • Code: GEN

   • Location: Floor 1

   • Annual Budget: 50,000

3. Create: Dental

   • Code: DENT

   • Location: Floor 2

   • Annual Budget: 75,000

4. Create: Radiology

   • Code: RAD

   • Location: Basement

   • Annual Budget: 40,000

5. Create: Laboratory

   • Code: LAB

   • Location: Floor 1, Wing B

   • Annual Budget: 30,000

6. Departments are now available for assignment across patients, services, and staff

Assigning a department head:

1. Sidebar → Departments

2. Find the department → Edit

3. In Head of Department — enter the doctor's name

4. In Head ID — select the doctor's user account

5. Save — department head is now formally recorded

Reviewing department expenses against budget:

1. Note the department's budget from the departments list

2. Sidebar → Expenses

3. Filter by the department

4. Review total expenses for the current period

5. Compare against budget to assess spending

Restructuring — merging two departments:

1. Reassign all staff from the old department to the new one via Sidebar → Staff

2. Reassign all patients via Sidebar → Patients

3. Update services via Sidebar → Services

4. Deactivate the old department — do not delete if historical expenses exist

Troubleshooting

Department name already exists error:

• Department names must be unique across the system

• Check the existing departments list for a duplicate name

• Use a more specific name (e.g. "Dental - Pediatric" instead of "Dental")

Department not appearing in patient or service dropdowns:

• Confirm the department is set to Active

• Hard refresh the browser after activating a department

Cannot create or edit departments:

• Department management is restricted to Admin role only

• Doctor, Receptionist, and Nurse accounts have view-only access

Head ID dropdown is empty:

• No user accounts exist in the system yet — create user accounts first via the signup flow or manually in Supabase

• Confirm users have approved_at set — pending users may not appear in the dropdown

Deleting department causes missing department on records:

• This is expected behavior — ON DELETE SET NULL removes the department reference from linked records when a department is deleted

• Always deactivate rather than delete departments that have historical records attached

Next Step

Continue to the Inventory module guide to learn how to manage medical supplies, track stock levels, and handle low stock alerts in CareNova.