We would be happy to discuss a pilot implementation with you – please get in touch if you would like to talk about it.

Yes, Optimize is fully scaleable, so it’s fine to use it in just one ward or department. Its use can be extended to other areas at a later date if required, and of course it’s suitable for use across large organisations.

No. Although Optimize was originally designed for nursing staff, we have since extended development to meet the needs of doctors and all clinical and non-clinical staff.

Provided the organisation’s security policy allows it, staff can access Optimize from wherever they happen to be.

Yes, staff can request shifts and prioritise them, as well as booking their annual leave, study days, and so on.

No, each work group has a choice. Some may self roster, others may have set patterns of working which can be cascaded forward and varied as needed.

Yes. Each user has their own user ID and password. There’s also a session timeout as an extra level of security in case the user is called away whilst logged on.

We looked at the possibility of fully automatic rostering in great detail. We concluded that, because of number and range of criteria and priorities which would need to be taken into account, an automatically generated roster would be extremely time-consuming to check, and the level of changes required would take longer than creating a roster from scratch. Instead, Optimize provides key tools to facilitate the preparation of rosters which meet staff, ward and organisation requirements.

Yes, Optimize has links from and to ESR that have been developed in line with the national specification.

Yes, Optimize can take data from any other system using a flexible interface system. Also, timesheets can be sent automatically to any payroll system. For users of Powertec’s Storm HR system, Optimize uses an automated link running throughout the day to update changes to HR data.

This obviously depends on the size of the ward or department. An average sized ward of say 50 staff would probably take a couple of days of someone’s time, and at the same time they would become very familiar with the Roster Management module.

Optimize saves time in key administration areas such as preparing rosters, managing leave and processing timesheets. Obviously how much time is saved depends on the systems in place beforehand. As a guide, we have found that even wards whose previous systems were efficient have reduced their administration time by at least 50%.

Training for Self Service and Shift Management is handled via e-learning modules which each take about half an hour. Each step follows a pattern of ‘show me, let me, test me’, and test scores are logged so the manager can check that staff have completed the training effectively. Roster Management training takes place during the work group setup process.

Yes. There is no upper limit to the number of users and/or work groups that can be added.

They can be set to work a default number of hours per day, and variations such as holidays, training and sickness can be added. This means staff are deemed to work their contract hours and the system still monitors their leave and sickness. Changes can be either referred to a manager for authorisation, or they can be self-authorised.

Yes. This is a major objective of the system and there is a clear link between improved rostering and reduced use of overtime, bank and agency time resulting in very significant cost savings.