How to get annual leave and swaps on a nightmare rota:
You’ve all probably heard that it’s a nightmare to get annual leave when you’re on an oncall rota. Well, it is, but I’m going to share my secrets for swapping and booking leave.
1. Don’t get your hopes up too much.
You might not get the days that you want. It’s crushing if you can’t go on a holiday you want, or spend those days with your friends you were hoping for, or miss a friend’s wedding or something like that. It sucks and I can’t make it better. I can only give you the tools to make it slightly more likely that you’ll get what you want. Based on real life experience.
Warn your loved ones that you might not be able to get the dates that you want, but you’ll try.
No, really, I’m serious. Set realistic expectations. You don’t want them to think it’s because you don’t care about their wedding or your brother’s graduation or your girlfriend’s dream holiday etc. People who don’t work in healthcare may not realise how tricky the process is.
learn to love excel spreadsheets. They are the way forward.
Make sure you’ve got a clear representation of your rota available, that you can send to friends and family when needed.
2. Check early.
This may mean:
email colleagues to find out who the rota coordinator actually is.
This may be before you even work at that hospital so you might have to do it all remotely via phoning and emailing a ton of people who aren’t really sure.
If nobody knows, try switchboard or whoever your contact for your placement there is - someone will eventually cc in someone who knows who the rota coordinator is.
This is easier if you’re already working in the hospital, and more difficult if you’re not.
Once you know who it is, calling the coordinator might be more useful than emailing; they tend to get inundated. A lot of the coordinators I’ve known have been patchy on the email communication front due to sheer volume.
Visiting them is also an option if you’re in the same hospital; this stuff is always easiest to clear face to face with the spreadsheet in front of you.
Bear in mind most people don’t have plans for their weekends months in advance, but when you get into the realm of last minute swaps, people are more likely to have stuff they’d rather do than work your shift.
Remember that the new junior doctor contract stipulates that if you give enough notice, they should try to accommodate life changing days. So get that notice in as early as possible.
3. Cast a targeted net.
Your colleagues want to help, but sending out mass emails or whatsapp messages about swaps often has a low return. People mean to check or reply, but then forget. Don’t rely on a half-assed message on whatsapp to find you any swaps for your precious days.
Look for people who also want to swap; these people will be most motivated to help you both come to an agreement.You’re both highly motivated to make it happen, so it’s more likely to come together.
Consider 3 or 4 way swaps if a bunch of you want to swap but there’s no easy solution. With a lot of excel work, it can be done.
Sitting down together with excel can really help, but it’s possible to organise entirely over email with a few brief chats.
Strike when the iron is hot; don’t leave it too long between emails and chats, or people will forget what you were all agreeing. Good swaps involve a flurry of targeted activity and being sorted quickly and well in advance.
However, even people who want to swap might not be compatible with you on the rota. That’s where my secret comes in.
Find people who are not oncall when you want to be free, and for whom doing your shifts won’t compromise their own timetable too much. This is important; people are less likely to swap if it’ll make their own lives miserable for a couple of weeks.
Consider the people on the rota in the slots above and below yours, because they’d be working that oncall a week earlier or later, so it pobably won’t bother them too much to swap.
Contact these specific people individually, with a proposed swap plan. Make it as easy for them, and offer to contact the rota coordinators on their behalf and just cc them in to agree. After all, You’re the one who wants this swap, it’s fair that you do most of the work.
Consider asking your wardmates if they will swap before casting a wider net (and the days are possible for them on the rota, which you should check before bothering them); this way you know that your ward will retain minimum staffing and the rota coordinator gods will be happy. They also know you and are therefore slightly more motivated to help you than other juniors who may still be faceless strangers at this point.
2. Do all the work for everyone involved in the swap.
The less other people have to do, the more they will be willing to help you, because it doesn’t inconvenience them. And whilst people want to help, they are also busy, so the easier you make it, the easier it is for them to help you.
Find your slot on the rota. Make sure you’re doing what you think you are.
As mentioned before, find people who are not oncall when you want to be free, and for whom doing your shifts won’t compromise their own timetable too much. This is important; people are less likely to swap if it’ll make their own lives miserable for a couple of weeks.
Make a timetable of what your proposed timetable would look like, and what theirs would look like. Doing it in excel helps because it can really give a visual for things like when you’re proposing zero days to be moved to, and ensuring that there aren’t run-on weekends or too many days in a row. It will also ensure you don’t miss any obvious issues like that which will bite you when you’re actually working that horrible rota you made.
If you’ve identified a horrible situation with a rota swap you’re proposing or agreeing to, own up to it, even if it’s already agreed. This year we spotted one after we’d agreed, and had to change it back again.
Take a look at their ward timetable or ask their ward coordinator whether it’ll mess up their ward’s staffing. You’ll have to do the same for your ward as well, but don’t forget that days swapped might affect both wards.
Take minimum staffing seriously. Your colleagues will not thank you for leaving them understaffed, though occasionally consultants agree to it for things like interviews, weddings etc.
Be courteous to everyone, no matter how frustrating this process is. You’re asking for a favour, after all.
Be willing to help out others in turn. If nobody’s willling to take on minor inconveniences to help their peers, none of us will ever get swaps, so bear that in mind.
Consider empty slots on the rota; people who are on maternity leave, slots that never got filled, part time worker slots that never got filled, and sick leave absences. Most of these won’t get filled, meaning their shifts will go out to locum every week until they do, and their ward position will remain empty every week. Since that person is already not there, and there will be locum shifts out regardless, ask your rota coordinator if you can work their oncalls, and whether they can put your oncalls on the days you need swapped out to locum instead. This often works for rota coordinators as they might get more time to find locums, or at least it puts them in no worseof a position than they already were, staffing wise.
If you’re doing this months in advance, I’d make a spreadsheet of what the proposed timetable would look like in case they find someone later to fill the job. Send this to the rota coordinator as part of your discussion; it will make it easier for them to visualise what they are dealing with. If the new shift pattern isn’t horrific for their potential employee (for example, just doing a weekend oncall a week earlier or later), there would be no reason not to swap in advance and just give them that new timetable.
Before you’ve locked down on the oncall day swaps, check with your ward that you’ll be able to take annual leave on the days that you want in order to make it all come together. Swapping oncalls doesn’t necessarily mean there will be enough people on the wards so make sure both are adequately covered.