5 Steps to Quickly Schedule Your Healthcare Workforce in Deputy

by Katie Sawyer, 3 minutes read
HOME blog 5 steps to quickly schedule your healthcare workforce in deputy

Covering absences, filling shifts on short notice, onboarding large numbers of volunteers. The world is dealing with the unforeseen pressures and challenges of coronavirus, and care homes are at the front line. Whether you’re already a Deputy customer or you’re looking get started, here are a few tips for setting up your [healthcare workforce](https://www.deputy.com/industry/healthcare) on Deputy. 1\. Set your locations and hierarchy ------------------------------------ Whatever your role in healthcare, you’re likely accustomed to last-minute changes. So to ensure that you always have the right team scheduled — and you’re able to fill the gaps when something comes up — you first need to set up your Deputy Location & Areas correctly. Start by clearing the clutter. If you have any unnecessary business units or closed [locations](https://help.deputy.com/en/articles/1953661-locations-faq), archive them. Any staff members who may have left the business should be discarded. You’ll want to make sure that you have only the staff members and business units that you need. Next, make sure you have clear and concise roles/areas set up. Your Deputy locations should mirror the different responsibilities in your business. For example, you might need locations for administration, one-on-one care, or on-call. **Pro tip:** Keep your area/role names as clear as possible. That will reduce the potential for any miscommunication or confusion before your team gets to work. 2\. Ensure your staff are matched to the job -------------------------------------------- You need the right person working the right job to ensure you deliver the best standard of care. That means aligning your staff with the roles or responsibilities that best match their skillset. In Deputy, you can create training modules to provide staff with the right training for a specific role and shift. So if you accidentally schedule someone for a shift they’re not qualified for, Deputy will always give you a warning. These safeguards will help prevent you from scheduling someone when they’re not qualified, like scheduling one of your day-time admins on an overnight shift. 3\. Setting Stress Profiles --------------------------- The next step is making sure you have stress profiles set up to avoid burning out your team. [Stress Profiles](https://help.deputy.com/en/articles/1945481-stress-profile-and-fatigue-management) help manage how many hours you [schedule staff](https://www.deputy.com/features/scheduling-software). You can set specific limitations on the number of hours staff can work on a single shift, in a single day, and in a given week. You can also set rules on how many consecutive days staff can work, and on the minimum required gap between shifts. Once you’ve set that profile, you can check real-time notes to make sure you haven’t gone over your limit. You’ll receive a warning if any shift is “stressed” so you can adjust your schedule. 4\. Automate unavailability --------------------------- To best cover critical shifts, you need to make sure your team is available. Whether someone works part-time, is a contractor, or is out on medical [leave](https://www.deputy.com/features/leave-management), you need to know who can work on any given day. Deputy can help you do so. Even better, you can empower staff to do so themselves. Staff can manage their own [availability](https://help.deputy.com/en/articles/3186456-add-or-delete-your-own-unavailability) with the Deputy app, simply by selecting the times and days they’re unavailable in their profile As the business owner, you can also add or delete an employee’s unavailability as needed. Keep an eye on your alerts. If you attempt to schedule someone that’s unavailable, Deputy will send you a warning.  However, if it is critical that a particular person cover a shift, you can override the alert. 5\. Fill your shifts quickly with the right people -------------------------------------------------- At this point, you should have your account ready to go. You have your business units, staff, hours, and their availability set up. The next step is to start [scheduling your shifts](https://www.deputy.com/features/shift-planning). You can create [open shifts](https://help.deputy.com/en/articles/1945476-open-shifts) and automatically notify your team. Qualified staff will get the notification and can request to claim the shift. Want to empower your team? Sometimes your staff won’t be able to work the hours you scheduled. Let your employees swap shifts with each other and approve the right person for the job. Set your team up for success ---------------------------- In the healthcare industry, every minute counts. Fast, efficient scheduling can help medical staff and carers focus on what really matters. [Try Deputy for free](https://www.deputy.com/?utm_source=blog&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=ft_glb_all_all_healthcare_&utm_content=na&stream=all_oth&dh=bl_bl_bl) or contact us to talk with one of our consultants.