Case Study: ICU in Western Australia
Client
A hospital in Western Australia's ICU
Challenge
The ICU of a hospital in Western Australia faces the ongoing challenge of creating a dynamic 24-hour, 3-month-long medical roster for over 20 people. They want to implement automatic scheduling.
Their roster has the following requirements
Certain skills need to be present 24/7
Hours worked for each employee are within strict limits
Working patterns for each employee are followed (e.g. days on/days off ratios)
Certain shift types (e.g., long days and nights) are distributed equally
Both individual preferences and availability are accounted for
Junior employees are always supervised
Continuity of care, i.e., having the same person do the same role for several days.
Solution
To address this ongoing challenge, the ICU of the hospital decided to use RosterLab, a software that streamlined the rostering process. RosterLab allowed all staff members to input their preferences, leave requests and availability, which it considered while ensuring that all the roster requirements are met. It also optimised staffing requirements and reported on whether it was possible to meet their minimum staffing requirements during each period of the day.
Result: By using RosterLab, the ICU of the hospital was able to automatically create an effective 24-hour medical roster that meets all the department's requirements.
RosterLab has saved me countless hours and made this process manageable - Peter
RosterLab had the following benefits for their organisation
Saved time by using RosterLab’s AI to make a months-worth of the future roster in under an hour.
Reduced the time and administrative burden of rostering by allowing individuals to make their preferences, availability and leave requests directly via the mobile web application.
Enabled the department to visualise the cause and effect of different rostering constraints that are often considered individually, but not collectively.
Formally defined the ICU’s entire rostering ruleset of contractual obligations, service needs and fairness principles through RosterLab’s proprietary generalised rules engine.
Improved continuity of care by ensuring staff work the same role for several days
Provided records of requests being met to report back to staff
Improved staff job satisfaction by meeting and considering more of their preferences and requests.
The ICU of this hospital continues to use RosterLab to manage its complex rostering needs. The software has proven to be a reliable, effective, and easy-to-use solution to the department's ongoing challenge. The software's user-friendly interface and quality customer service have contributed to the department's satisfaction with the ongoing rostering process.