I spotted an advertisement recently and contacted a software company that said they could help me with the HR side of my role by providing some automatic rota software. My eyes widened with excitement. No more sweating over a cold cup of coffee with Excel drilling holes in my already tired eyes.

This software apparently ensures that nobody is ever booked to work at the same time, and it takes care of sickness, family responsibility, paternity, maternity leave… the works!

I urgently sent them an email which stated the following:

I am very interested in your rota software. As requested, I’ve outlined the requirements of our surgery and what should be included:

 Janice never works a Friday.

 Cate never works a Monday, and every other Thursday she needs to leave at 3pm to get her eyebrows waxed.

 Karen doesn’t work a Wednesday; she works two days in the admin team and two days as a HCA.

 Diane doesn’t work a Thursday and also works from home the third Monday of each month. The second Tuesday of each month, she has a meeting away from the office.

 Norma works all day Tuesday and Friday, but also works a Monday and Friday morning; two days are in the dispensary and two days are in the secretarial team.

 Jane works all day Monday and Wednesday and until 2pm on a Thursday. She needs to finish at 3pm every other Monday as she has no childcare.

 Matt works Tuesday to Friday, half in the dispensary, half as a call handler; he has a dodgy elbow so shouldn’t do anything too repetitive.

 Gina works Tuesday, Wednesday and a half-day Friday. She’s a part-time HCA and will NEVER do a lock-up.

 Sarah works Monday to Friday but only a half-day on Friday; she won’t work on the phones on a Monday because she can’t cope with the volume of calls.

 Nancy works Monday to Friday but only a half-day on a Friday; she can’t stand up for more than a few hours due to her hip.

 Tia works Monday to Friday but only a half-day on a Friday (does anyone work a Friday afternoon?!); she refuses to answer the phones at all.

 Kim works Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday; she’s happy to work extra on the Tuesday but she comes in late on a Friday as the nursery doesn’t open until 8.30am.

 Gill works Tuesday to Friday. She has to finish early on Thursdays as her parents can no longer look after her children. She has a clinical meeting every other Thursday morning.

 Lali works Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. She’s pregnant and at present has many additional appointments that need to be taken into consideration.

 Dr R works Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, but every other Tuesday he works for another GP practice, and the third Wednesday of each month he works as an appraiser. On Tuesday morning he isn’t in the surgery as he works in the care homes, and on a Thursday morning he has a joint injection clinic so can’t have normal appointments.

 Dr B works Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. She has a respiratory clinic every Monday afternoon and needs to leave early the second Thursday of each month.

 Dr K works a Monday all day, Tuesday half-day, Wednesday half-day; she can’t do home visits as she looks after her elderly mother so pops home to make sure she’s OK, but she will work late on a Monday. She has a diabetic clinic every Tuesday.

 Dr A works Monday, Tuesday, Friday. She needs to leave every Tuesday at 4.30pm so begins her afternoon surgery earlier to finish earlier. She has a baby clinic every other Tuesday morning.

 Dr V works Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. He has minor op clinic every Wednesday morning and won’t cover on-call on a Wednesday.

 Dr L works Tuesday, Thursday, Friday. She needs to leave early on a Thursday as she needs to get her child to Brownies.

 Registrar A works at 80% and is here Monday, Tuesday morning and Friday afternoon. She has teaching on a Friday morning and also needs mentoring on a Monday morning (so you’ll need to fit in one of the other GPs to do this).

 For the registrars, their appointments mean they start off with 30 minutes; after 1 month, reduce to 20mins; after 2 months, reduce to 15 mins.

 In addition, the surgery shuts every other month on a Thursday afternoon for staff meetings and training. There’s a partners’ meeting every week on a Wednesday between 12 and 1pm, and a clinic meeting once a month on a Wednesday between 1 and 2pm.

 Surgery appointments need two on-call sessions every Monday and Friday, two on-calls in the afternoon after a bank holiday and three on-calls on a Monday. On-call must be shared out equally or else!

On-call on Fridays and Mondays should be rotated so the same GP doesn’t cover a Monday and a Friday (vital!).

Don’t put Dr A and Dr V on-call together in the afternoon; we’d still be in surgery at 10pm!

The physiotherapist is here on a Thursday; the mental health team worker is here on a Tuesday morning; the midwives are here on a Friday morning. 

I have to say, I’m a bit disappointed with the software company’s customer service; it’s been three weeks and I’m yet to hear back from them!

PM Polly