Getting started

From a blank app to a published schedule. The first-run wizard walks you through most of this; here is the same path with more context.

1. Describe your department

Create your stations — the treatment areas doctors are assigned to (triage, red area, observation, and so on) — and set how many doctors each station needs per shift, day and night. If staffing needs change for a period (a seasonal surge, a ward closure), add a slot period with different numbers for that date range.

2. Add your doctors

For each doctor you set:

• Contracted hours per week — the solver targets this, and flags months where the pool can't cover demand.
• Station competencies — which areas they can cover.
• Night eligibility — whether they work nights at all.
• Contract window — start and end dates for rotating staff.

3. Set the rules

Hard rules are legal and safety limits: rest after a night shift, maximum consecutive working hours, maximum nights per month, maximum consecutive days. These are enforced absolutely — the solver will leave a slot open before it breaks one.

Soft rules shape the schedule's character: preferring full days (morning + afternoon at the same station), spreading nights evenly, keeping weekly hours balanced. The solver satisfies as many as it can.

4. Check feasibility

Before generating, open Setup › Feasibility for the month. It compares demand (slots to fill) against supply (contracted hours, night capacity, competencies, planned leaves) and tells you whether the month is coverable — and if not, how many additional doctors you'd need. Five minutes here saves an afternoon of wondering why the solver can't fill Tuesdays.

5. Generate, adjust, publish

Generate the month. The solver typically returns a complete schedule in seconds, with a coverage summary and any conflicts flagged directly on the calendar. Pin assignments you want kept and regenerate around them, or assign slots by hand — manual changes are checked against the same rules, with violations marked in red.

When the schedule is right, publish it. Publishing stores a version you can always return to, updates the fairness ledger, and — if you've connected the mobile relay — pushes the schedule to your doctors' phones.

Time-off requests (desiderata)

Doctors submit day-off requests from the mobile app; they arrive in the Plan tab where you grant or deny them. Granted requests are respected by the solver with high priority — overriding one is possible but always explicit, never silent.

Backups

Setup › Backup exports an encrypted copy of the whole database. Keep one somewhere safe before big changes; restoring takes one click.

Exports

• PDF — color-coded monthly matrix for the noticeboard.
• Excel / CSV — shift totals for payroll.

Something unclear or not working? Get in touch.