Authors (including presenting author) :
Hung SY (1), Chan YH (1), Lee YY (1), Wong YL (1), Tong A (1), Yip W (1)
Affiliation :
Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital, NTEC Cluster
Introduction :
Duty roster in Eye Clinic consists of varieties of job nature, including Visual acuity (VA), measuring non-contact tonometry (NCT), assisting consultation rooms, etc . VA team is responsible for huge volume of VA & NCT. Job nature of it involves repeated raising of hand (~60 patients per staff) that pose them at high MHO risk if prolonged working. Occasionally, VA team workforce will be cut under manpower shortage. Job nature of assisting consultation room requires staff to work overtime that end up in staff fatigue and exhaustion. Current one month shift roster has evolved over many years that actually induced multiple problems. In addition, inconsistent duty replacement system under contingency situation (e.g. sick leave) also identified that resulting in poor staff morale. Moreover, unstable workforce in VA team is persisted that affecting work efficiency and patient waiting time.
Objectives :
-- To stabilize the “VA” team workforce by prioritization of duty deployment under contingency. -- To engage ECAs in redesigning of new roster and vote for the best pattern -- To enhance staff morale and teamwork by enhanced team communication -- To sooth the impact of OSH issue and staff exhaustion
Methodology :
-- Working group including nursing and ECAs is formed to re-design duty rostering. Framework of manpower allocation & principle is created to meet service needs. With guidance from team head (nurse manager), they are invited to design/arrange sequence of their “wish pattern” and creating 4 choices of duty roster, which are kept anonymous. All ECAs are invited to “vote” for their preferred pattern and come up to one most popular pattern, viz., “Rainbow duty roster” which is in “one week shift”. -- To increase workforce, job re-engineering by merging different job assignments without compromising patient service also implemented. As a result, extra “relieving manpower” and new role “counter assistant” are created in the roster for urgent deployment under contingency and to support counter nurse for answering patient enquiry. With designated “relieving duty” in the roster, manpower deployment system is then developed, which is “transparent” & “consistent”.
Result & Outcome :
A new roster “Rainbow duty” has been created & implemented since 2Q 2018 by the team to address numerous issues : unstable workforce in VA team, inconsistent duty replacement system, poor staff morale, high risk of OSH problem & staff fatigue, etc. It is welcome by all staff members as supporting staff are fully engaged. Changes results in consistent VA team manpower despite under manpower shortage, whilst without compromising patient safety and work efficiency. Most importantly, staff morale substantially enhanced by team communication.
Co-location with:
