Ward Guardian

Roster Principle

Target

Rationale/Benefits of Adherence to this Principle

Roster fully approved 42 days in advance

All rosters to be signed off and approved by first approver by 49 days and second approver 42 days in advance.

42 days in advance

Evidence from other trusts and within Mersey Care demonstrates that approving a roster with at least six weeks’ notice leads to reduced bank/agency staff usage and a reduction in sickness hours. In addition, this is an NHSE level of attainment metric which Mersey Care is assessed against.

Designated person in charge allocated to every shift

Each shift (early, day or night) must have a designated in charge person identified on the roster when submitted. The aim is to clearly indicate who the designated, qualified in charge person is for every shift on completion of a roster.

75% of shifts must have a designated staff member in charge

This is a safety and compliance measure. At present, whilst most, if not all shifts have a designated in charge person, this is not always recorded on Health Roster.

Temporary cover requirements requested before roster approved

Requirements for temporary cover which are identified during the rostering process are requested prior to the roster being signed off by the second approver.

Maximum of 5 shifts left to be requested at roster second approval

If requests for temporary cover are made in advance, it’s more likely that cover can be provided and that it can be filled by bank staff or overtime rather than higher costing agency staff.

Annual leave equally distributed throughout the year

Annual leave should be equally distributed across the year. The target is that as close to 15.2% (with tolerance of >< 5%) of contracted hours are allocated to annual leave in every roster cycle.

15.2% of contracted hours rostered (><5% tolerance)

If annual leave is equally allocated across the year, this makes sure staff are taking their annual leave to assist with their health and wellbeing. This metric also assists with the reduction of inappropriate use of bank and agency staff.

Staff within the accepted 21 hour tolerance

A maximum of 21 hours can be carried forward to a roster cycle. If this is exceeded for more than three members of staff in the team, adherence to this principle will be non compliant.

All available hours to the rostering manager should be allocated within a roster cycle. As close to possible to zero hours should be carried over. Similarly, hours owed to staff should be maintained as close as possible to zero. It’s accepted that from time to time, hours will either be owed to, or by staff.

Maximum of three staff members outside of 21 hour tolerance

Evidence and data available clearly indicate that many available hours go unrostered in each roster cycle. This differs significantly across wards/teams, with some wards/teams managing this issue effectively, and others not doing so well.

If available hours are not rostered, this results in lost capacity which comes at a cost and inappropriate use of bank and agency staff.