One of Europe's biggest and busiest children's hospitals, Alder Hey provides 24-hour care, balancing planned surgery with emergency demand. As service demands continue to grow, the trust identified the need for a modern, reliable scheduling system that frees up valuable clinician time, whilst supporting staff wellbeing, operational efficiency and patient care.
Under a new joint statement of endeavour, Alder Hey and the Hartree Centre have been exploring how advanced digital technologies can transform staff scheduling for the NHS.
In close collaboration with Alder Hey clinicians, the Hartree National Centre for Digital Innovation team has developed an AI-driven system that automatically generates balanced on-call schedules. By incorporating real-world factors such as annual leave, working patterns and staff skills, it can produce rotas that are fair, practical, and more predictable.
A user-friendly interface enables clinicians to review and adjust schedules quickly, maintaining human oversight while replacing manual spreadsheets with a more efficient and reliable approach.
Professor Iain Hennessey, director and founder of innovation at Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust, said: ‘Sometimes the most impactful innovations are often the simplest and improving how we build our rotas is a perfect example of technology giving clinicians more time to care.
‘There is no better use of advanced computing than helping a children's hospital run more efficiently, allowing clinicians to concentrate on what they do best.
‘Through this collaboration we will be able to harness expertise and the latest technology to help make this a reality. This is what innovation and high-precision computing can do, put people back at the heart of care.'
While the first phase of the project supports on-call planning, future development will work towards full workforce rota management.
Ultimately, the technology has the potential to be scaled across the NHS, helping to improve resilience and efficiency.
STFC's Professor Kate Royse, director of the Hartree Centre, said: ‘It is extremely exciting to continue our work with Alder Hey as it uses advanced AI and digital technologies to tackle real challenges facing the NHS, while supporting the wellbeing of both patients and staff.
‘This is a clear example of how the Hartree Centre's expertise can help the NHS to strengthen workforce planning, improve operational efficiency, and support staff, without compromising patient care.'
Alder Hey and the Hartree Centre have collaborated on new technologies since 2015. Previous collaborative work between the two has included providing AI and data analytics expertise to help Alder Hey become the UK's first cognitive hospital, and the development of the Ask Oli chatbot, which uses intelligent computing to personalise healthcare and enhance patient experience.
