Two worlds in the same hospital
A nursing ward is planned by staff category: planner, nurses, care assistants, rehabilitation staff, with staffing counts per time band (morning, afternoon, night, standby availability). A medical team is planned by activity, each with its own staffing counts: morning and afternoon operating theatres, intensive care, daytime and night anaesthesiology on-call shifts (guardie), surgical emergencies, day surgery, radiology and endoscopy (NORA), pre-admission, extra-hours activity. The model also adapts to radiology and outpatient clinics and covers the organization’s shared services, which cut across wards.
On-call shifts and standby availability: the heart of the problem
Continuity of care runs on on-call shifts and standby availability: every activity must be covered 24/7, and a call back to duty must respect the same legal constraints as any other shift — starting with the 11 hours of rest. That is why on-call shifts and standby availability must live inside the plan: the system always knows who is on call, who is on standby with their contact details at hand, and who can be called back without breaching the rules.
The fairness that holds the team together
Nights, public holidays and on-call shifts are the classic ground for conflict within a medical team. An optimization engine that distributes workloads in a fair and sustainable way — with transparent, traceable rules — removes the perception of favouritism and gives the unit director a plan that can be defended in front of everyone.
One system, separate governance
It might seem logical to put physicians and nurses “together”, but anyone who works in a hospital knows the reporting lines are distinct: nursing and support staff report to the Nursing Directorate, physicians to the Medical Directorate. ALISEO ES respects this separation: one system, same features, same checks, same engine, but each directorate acts on its own rostering groups — which for nursing staff and physicians may even be grouped differently. And the Medical Direction of the trust (or the executive management) sees coverage and anomalies across the whole organization: physician, nursing and service rosters, from reception desks to cash offices.
→ Read more: Nurse rostering · For Management