Poor staff rosters are at the heart of socially unacceptable working patterns, inadequate rest times, and increased levels of stress. This equals poor productivity and low levels of engagement, consequently leading to high agency costs to combat high staff turnover and high levels of sickness. Rosters are still largely undertaken by hand, typically by a ward sister, who will do the task at home to get some peace and quiet. It's a tiresome and thankless task, which, once done, is rarely altered as it's too difficult. This causes frustration amongst the workforce, as they can't get the flexibility of shifts that they want.

The production of rosters, while maintaining the correct level of staff coverage, is a highly complex task and is not amenable to solution by manual methods. It's imperative not to break any employment laws or force staff to continually work undesirable shifts, such as a 7 nights in a row, or late shifts followed by an early the next day.