Pod Allocator
Staff rota — from Optima
Fills each day's bench with who's working and their shifts.
- In Optima: Rostering → Roster Print Reports → Work Roster 1 Week
- View Date = any day that week · Unit = S11061 Medical Staff · Fulfilment = All · Include Duties = All Duties · Person Extra Info = Grade · Unfilled Duties = None · Output As = Excel
- Run Report → Reports icon (top right) → click the report → View Report — it downloads
- Drop the downloaded file above
Consultant cover
Fills the consultant line on each pod — every week in the file, in one go.
- Use the usual consultant spreadsheet — “Week Commencing …” blocks with Pod A–E rows of initials
- Initials are matched to consultants on the Staff page by their name's initials (“Anas Baiou” catches AB); anything unmatched shows as initials until they're added
- Already-entered consultants are simply overwritten by the file
Staff list
One password covers the staff list, fairness, the change log, feedback and imports.
Reset passwordEverything here covers the last twelve months. The pod columns show how each person's days have been spread across pods A to E, so 100% in one column means they have never worked anywhere else. The phone columns show how often someone held the referral phone as a share of the days they were eligible to hold it, which is why a person who joined last month can be compared fairly against someone who has been here all year. Hover any figure for the counts behind it. Rows are ordered by total pod days.
My shifts
This is the pod allocation for the unit. It updates itself from Allocate roughly every two hours through the day, so short-notice changes appear on their own. Anyone can look; changing it needs the team password.
What everything on the board means
- 1Days run down the left, pods across the top. Find your name on today’s row.
- 2The name in the top right is the consultant covering that pod that day. In the Night team column it’s the consultant on call overnight.
- 3COD — the consultant taking referrals that day.
- 4LD long day, 8am – 8.30pm. SD standard day, 8am – 4pm. N night, 8pm – 8.30am — nights are in the Night team column.
- 5A — airway trained.
- 6— holds the referral phone. Always someone on a long day. The night phone is the same icon with a small N.
- 7— shadowing the phone: someone learning from the holder, not holding it themselves.
- 8Anyone listed under a Super heading is supernumerary — on the unit, but not counted in that pod’s numbers.
Someone can’t work their shift — what do I do?
You can sort it on the board there and then. You’ll need the team password.
- Click the person and choose Take off this day.
- The day’s dot turns amber or red, and a Fix this day button appears next to the date.
- Press it. It works out the fewest moves that clear the problem — who shifts pod, who picks up the phone — and shows you the list before anything happens. Everyone not involved stays put.
- Apply, or close it and move people yourself by dragging.
Undo reverses it, and the change is logged with your name. If nothing can be moved it says so and tells you why — for example if no long-day person is left who can hold the phone.
Still record the absence in Allocate as normal. The board keeps your pod changes, but who’s rostered comes from Allocate.
Who’s got the referral phone?
The phone icon shows the holder, and they are always on a long day — the board won’t leave it with someone on a short day.
An eye icon on someone else means they’re shadowing to learn it, with a supervisor on the same shift — they aren’t holding the phone themselves. Overnight the holder’s icon is marked with a small N. If the holder comes off the day, Fix this day hands the phone on for you.
What do the coloured dots mean?
nothing to flag · worth a look, perhaps airway cover is uneven · something needs sorting: a pod under numbers, no phone holder, or somebody in two places at once.
Click the dot to see exactly what it’s flagging on that day.
What’s the Fairfield column?
Who’s at Fairfield that day. Locum, bank and NHSp names can be added there for a single day, and they don’t count towards Salford’s pod numbers.
To add one: create them in the To allocate column as you would a Salford locum, then drag them across into Fairfield.
Can I change it?
Looking is open to everyone. Press Edit and enter the team password to make changes — the coordinators and rota team have it.
Only one person can edit at a time; if someone else is in, the button tells you who. Every change is logged with a name and a time, and Undo steps back through them.
Can I print it or put it in the chat?
Print copy at the top saves a clean, read-only copy of the week as a single file — for the wall, or for posting into Teams.
Something looks wrong — who do I tell?
Use the Feedback button at the top. The name field is optional; leave it blank and nothing identifies you.