01 the business
District general hospital
1,100 nurses across 25 wards
Ward managers spend days a month building rosters by hand. Each sickness call means phone calls and texts, and many gaps end up with agency staff at a premium. Nurses complain the roster is unfair.
02 before
The problem
Ward managers build rosters by hand around requests, skills, contracts and safe staffing levels. Every sickness call means phone calls and texts, and gaps often end up with expensive agency staff. Unfair rosters drive people to leave.
- Rosters take a manager two or three days each period.
- Gaps are filled by phone, often with agency staff.
- Nights and weekends are shared unevenly.
03 the build
What the AI does
- Step 1: Reads staff contracts, skills, leave and preferences from your workforce system.
- Step 2: Drafts the roster to meet the safe staffing levels and skill mix you set, sharing nights and weekends fairly.
- Step 3: Shows managers why each shift was assigned and where the rules could not be met.
- Step 4: When someone calls in sick, offers the shift to suitable bank and part-time staff in order, by app or SMS.
- Step 5: Logs fills and gaps, and reports agency use and fairness by ward each month.
paused: waiting for a person to approve
How it was put together
- Read contracts, skills, leave and preferences from the workforce system.
- Drafted rosters to safe staffing levels and skill mix, sharing unsocial shifts fairly.
- Explained each assignment and where rules could not be met.
- Offered sickness gaps to suitable bank and part-time staff by app and SMS.
04 human in the loop
Where a person stays in charge
The ward manager approves the roster and every change. Safe staffing decisions, such as moving a nurse between wards, stay with the nurse in charge.
- Ward managers approve rosters and every change.
- Safe staffing decisions stay with the nurse in charge.
- Skill and registration requirements are hard rules.
05 rollout
From kickoff to live in 10–12 weeks
- Weeks 1–3Load rules, contracts and skills; agree fairness measures with staff side.
- Weeks 4–7Pilot on five wards for one roster period.
- Weeks 8–12Extend across wards and switch on shift-fill offers.
06 after
What changes
Rosters take less of a manager's week, gaps are filled faster from your own staff, and agency spend falls. Staff see a fairer roster.
Assume 400 agency shifts a month at a premium of $300 over bank cost, and a quarter of them filled by bank staff instead.
400 × 25% = 100 shifts × $300 = $30,000 a month, or $360,000 a year.
What to measure
- Manager hours per roster.
- Shifts filled by bank versus agency.
- Time to fill a sickness gap.
- Staff views on roster fairness.
07 evidence
What the research says
The global nursing shortage was 5.8 million in 2023 and is projected to be 4.1 million in 2030.
World Health Organization, State of the World's Nursing 2025 (opens in a new tab) · 2025
08 lessons
Mistakes to avoid
- Ignoring staff preferences. Fairness keeps people.
- Hiding the logic. Managers need to see why.
- Moving staff without the nurse in charge.
09 questions
Common questions
- Why does this matter now?
- WHO estimates a global shortage of 5.8 million nurses in 2023. Every shift filled well from your own staff matters.
- Does it replace our rostering system?
- No. It works with systems such as Allocate or Deputy and writes the roster back into them.