Rostering in the aged care sector can cause a number of headaches for providers as they try to provide quality service and meet their legal obligations.

Coordinating staff hours, breaks and leave as well as ensuring that employees are paid accordingly is a major task, and can be unnecessarily expensive.

The headaches of rostering aged care staff

Rostering in aged care is time-consuming and requires a big investment in overhead, given the complicated nature of many providers’ staffing requirement. Carers may well be spread across multiple locations, working with different clientsand undertaking specialist tasks, all of which add to the complexity of compiling an efficient and effective roster.

Major issues can also arise when gaps and errors on a roster are not spotted and oversight occurs (for example booked leave or unassigned shifts). This could leave your clients waiting for their care provider to arrive, and potentially cause a stressful situation if they need to have medications or be taken to an appointment and are suddenly left having to make alternate arrangements.

At the same time, it could also result in staff not being efficiently spread across the week’s shifts, meaning money is potentially wasted on wages when it isn’t needed.

And then there are the logistical headaches of distributing rosters to staff and the coordination of shift swaps and covering absences. If a carer is unwell or needs to take time off at short notice, it can be a scurry to find who isn’t already rostered and which staff are able to replace the shift, without causing flow-on issues to the rest of the roster.

Using rostering software to tackle the issues

These issues are avoidable, though, and aged care providers certainly do not need to expose themselves to no-shows, inefficient processes or unnecessary expenditure on wages and overhead.

Aged care rostering software has been transforming the way in which rosters are prepared, modified and implemented in in-home aged care across Australia, providing solutions for improving bottom lines and overall aged care management.

Simple interface and easy to use

Designed to streamline the rostering process and boost efficiency, software for the aged care industry, such as ShiftCare, offers advanced functions within a simple interface that is easy to implement.

Shifts can easily be filled and changed with the drag and drop feature, saving time and avoiding administrative mistakes in the process. Once a provider has a roster set up and functioning, it can easily be turned into a weekly schedule with the click of a button, generating huge time and overhead savings.

The rostering software is also simple for carers, as rosters are shared instantly, changes or cancellations to bookings and shifts generate automatic email notifications, and carers can update their availability without having to fill in forms or go into the office.

No more gaps or errors

Using basic rostering systems, spreadsheets or simply paper to arrange staffing almost guarantees that gaps and errors will go undetected.

For instance, not identifying that the one carer has been assigned two different shifts across two different locations at the same time will result in one client being left without care. This can damage your business reputation and appear incompetent.

Advanced systems like ShiftCare are designed specifically for the aged care industry and understand the unique requirements for providers. Double bookings are prevented as the software flags the issue before it even occurs.

Gaps in the schedule are clearly highlighted, and mangers can advertise any shifts that need covering to staff with a single click, eliminating the need to send texts or call each team member individually.

Managing leave and staff absence

A significant obstacle when it comes to drawing up an efficient roster is staff leave.

The administration team must first remember to factor in the absence of a staff member, which can be easily overlooked in traditional rostering systems, leading to a no show and insufficient staffing levels. Software such as ShiftCare allows for these dates to be entered into the system and then prevents the person from being rostered during their leave period.

With the absence now clearly highlighted, it is then simple for an alternate employee to be assigned to the shift, ensuring that the business’ staffing levels are maintained.

Payroll integration and digital timesheets

With everything digitised and online, the timesheet and payroll process becomes much easier.

Everything from the distribution of rosters to carers, shift changes, attendance and expenses is tracked on the one platform, making it easy to view and manage, as well as ensuring that staff receive the correct pay.

Your team has the ability to clock in and clock out on their digital device no matter where their job site is located, creating an online timesheet. They can also add in expenses such as car mileage, for an easy record of all reimbursements due.

A major advantage is that the data from the paperless timesheets is automatically transferred over to the payroll system. This payroll integration will save your administration team time and free up overhead costs to invest in other parts of the business.

Get the solution to your rostering headaches

Good rosters make the difference between an efficient aged care provider that provides high-quality service and care, and one that loses money and time on administration.

ShiftCare can bridge that gap for your company with powerful aged care rostering software designed specifically for the industry, that can assist your company to improve satisfaction, performance and free up funds for investment in more important areas of the business.

Get in touch with us if you’d like to streamline your rostering process and boost your business efficiency. Start a free 7-day trial today!