I used to build rosters in Excel

Mr James Whitfield – Clinical Workforce Manager

I started with a spreadsheet because that’s what everyone did. One grid became two, then three, and before long I was managing versions, emails, and exceptions across multiple files. On paper the roster looked reasonable, but in reality it was both over-rostered and under-utilised at the same time.

Some clinicians were doing overtime and attracting penalties, while others were sitting below their contracted hours. Conflicting assignments weren’t obvious until very late, sometimes only when someone turned up for a shift and realised they had been rostered in two places. By then, the opportunity to fix it properly had passed.

Every change triggered emails. Every sick call felt urgent. The roster was always released later than I wanted, which meant clinicians couldn’t plan their lives and I absorbed most of the frustration. Training sessions weren’t deliberately protected; teaching was something we tried to fit around service needs rather than plan for properly.

When IRIS came in, the work didn’t disappear, but the nature of it changed. Demand was planned before people were assigned. Conflicts surfaced earlier instead of hiding in the grid. Over- and under-rostering stopped cancelling each other out invisibly.

Now, when a sick call comes in early in the morning, I’m not scrambling. I can see who has availability, who is safe to work, and who is already carrying load. The biggest change hasn’t been speed. It’s been control.

Fairness isn’t a lottery — it’s visibility

Ms Hannah Miller – Nurse Unit Manager

Leave was one of the hardest parts of the role. School holidays, public holidays, special events — we tried to be fair, but without good visibility it often felt like guesswork. Once leave was approved, there was always the risk of accidentally rostering someone anyway, relying on individuals to notice and speak up.

With IRIS, leave and rostering live together. We can see who has had access to peak periods in the past, what demand looks like, and where approving leave would create risk. If something slips through, the system flags it rather than hiding it.

Fairness feels less emotional now and more transparent. That makes difficult conversations easier, because decisions can be explained rather than defended.