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User Guide

Last updated: February 2026

Viewing Your Rota

EDRota offers four ways to view the rota. Switch between them using the view selector at the top of the rota page.

Detailed view — staff as columns
Smith
Patel
Jones
Lee
Un.
10
Mon
Long
Day
+1
11
Tue
Night
SPA
Long
Night
12
Wed
Twi
Day
SPA
13
Thu
Long
Long
+1
14
Fri
A/L
SPA
Day
Night
15
Sat
SPA
Long
SPA
Simple view — shift types as columns
Day
08–16
Night
20–08
Long
08–20
10
Mon
Jones
Smith
11
Tue
Patel
Lee
Patel
12
Wed
Jones
Jones
13
Thu
Patel
Lee
Calendar view — month overview
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Sun
3
4
SPA
Night
5
Day
6
Night
7
8
Long
SPA
9
A/L
10
SPA
11
12
Night
Long
13
Twi
14
Long
15
16
SPA
Night

Detailed view (Staff & Date)

The default view. Staff names run across the top as columns, dates run down the left as rows. Each cell shows the shift label in its assigned colour. Weekend rows are highlighted in amber.

Simple view

Shift types run across the top as columns, dates run down the left. Each cell shows which staff are assigned to that shift on that day. Good for seeing coverage at a glance.

Calendar view

A traditional month calendar grid. Each day shows all shifts as coloured cards. Useful for getting an overview of the whole month.

Today view

A staffing overview for the current date showing who is scheduled for shifts. Available from the "Staffing Today" link in the navigation. You can also view shifts for any other date using the date picker.

Public holiday highlighting

When your department has public holidays configured, those dates appear with a rose-tinted background on the rota grid, diary, and calendar view. Hover over the date cell to see the holiday name. Holiday styling takes precedence over the usual amber weekend tint — so a bank holiday on a Saturday shows rose, not amber.

Draft and published badges

Each month's rota has a status: Draft or Published. You'll see a small badge in the rota header showing the current status. Draft means the rota is still being worked on by your rota lead. Published means it has been finalised.

Completeness badge

Next to the draft/published badge, you may see a "X% filled" badge showing how many shifts have been assigned compared to the minimum cover requirements. The badge is green when coverage is 90% or above, amber for 60-89%, and red below 60%.

Compliance indicators

Shifts that may breach rest rules (e.g., less than 11 hours between shifts) show an orange triangle in the corner of the cell. Click on a shift with a violation indicator to see what rule was flagged. These are informational — they help your rota lead spot scheduling issues.

Cover gap indicators

When your rota lead has set minimum staffing requirements, you may see amber gap indicators on the rota. These show where the actual shifts fall short of the required cover — for example, "2 more Day shifts needed on Monday". Gaps appear across all four views and update automatically as shifts are added or removed.

All Day shifts & time-off

Some shifts are marked as "All Day" — they have no specific start or end time and count as 24 hours in statistics. These are typically used for on-call cover or full-day commitments.

For leave (annual leave, study leave, etc.), your admin will use the time-off category dropdown in the shift editor rather than an All Day shift. This ensures leave is tracked correctly in statistics and the ledger.

Switching roles

If you work across multiple roles (e.g., ED Consultant and ED Registrar), use the role selector in the header to switch between them. Each role has its own rota, shift templates, and permissions.

Share My Rota

Share your personal schedule with family or friends via a private link. They can see your shifts for the next few months without needing to log in.

1

Open the Share & Export dropdown

Click the share button in the rota toolbar.

2

Generate a link

Click "Generate Link" to create a unique private URL for your schedule.

3

Copy and share

Copy the link and send it to anyone you want. They'll see a clean read-only view of your shifts.

What they see

Recipients see your shifts in a list or calendar view. Only shift names, dates, and times are visible — no personal details, no other staff information.

EDRota
Dr Smith
Emergency Medicine · Royal London
February 2026
Mon
10
Day08:00–16:00
Tue
11
Night20:00–08:00
Wed
12
A/LAll day
Thu
13
Long Day08:00–20:30
edrota.com/shared/xK9mP2wR...
Copy
Anyone with this link can see your schedule · No login needed

Revoking access

Generate a new link at any time. The old link stops working immediately.

Tip
Share links show a rolling window of about 4 months. They update automatically as the rota changes — no need to send a new link each month.

ICS Calendar Feeds

Subscribe to your shifts in Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, or Microsoft Outlook. Your calendar stays in sync automatically.

Calendar feed example
Nights OnlyNight shifts only
webcal://edrota.com/ics/abc123def...
Subscribe in:Google CalendarAppleOutlook
Feeds update automatically · Rolling 3-month window · Up to 5 per role
1

Open the Share & Export dropdown

Click the share button in the rota toolbar.

2

Create a calendar feed

Click "New Calendar Feed". Give it a name and optionally set filters.

3

Copy the feed URL

Copy the ICS URL and paste it into your calendar app's "Subscribe" feature.

Feed options

  • Up to 5 feeds per role — create separate feeds for different shift types or purposes.
  • Filters — include only shifts of a specific activity type (DCC/SPA in PA mode, or Clinical/Non-clinical in Hours mode), only specific time-of-day ranges, or only time-off.
  • Auto-refresh — calendars fetch updates every few hours. The feed covers a rolling 3-month window.
  • Timezone support — shifts appear at the correct local time in your calendar.
Tip
Create a "Nights only" feed to get reminders specifically for night shifts, or an "Annual Leave" feed to track your booked leave in your personal calendar.
Note
Calendar apps refresh subscribed feeds on their own schedule — typically every few hours. Changes made in EDRota are available immediately via the feed URL, but your phone calendar may take time to pick them up. This delay is controlled by your calendar app (Google, Apple, Outlook) — not by EDRota. To force a refresh, remove and re-add the subscription, or check your app's sync settings.

Shift Marketplace

The marketplace lets staff trade shifts directly. Three types of request are available:

Marketplace requests
GiveawayNight Shift20:00–08:00
OPEN
Fri 14 Feb
SwapLong Day08:00–20:30
PENDING
Sun 16 Feb
You give: Night (Sat 15) → You get: Long Day (Sun 16)
PickupTwilight16:00–00:00
APPROVED
Tue 18 Feb

Giveaway

Post a shift you can't work. Other staff can claim it. Once someone claims it and an admin approves (if required), the shift moves to them.

Pickup

Browse available shifts that need covering. Claim one and it's assigned to you (pending admin approval if configured).

Swap

Propose swapping one of your shifts for someone else's. The process is:

1

Propose a swap

Select your shift and the shift you want. A request is sent to the other person.

2

Peer accepts or rejects

The other staff member reviews the proposal and responds.

3

Admin approves (if required)

Once both parties agree, an admin gives final approval. Some departments have auto-approve enabled.

Note
You can only trade shifts within the same role. Cross-role swaps are not supported.

Team Diary

The diary is a shared space for team notes, announcements, and leave records. Everyone in the role can see diary entries.

Creating an entry

  • Single date — for a note on a specific day.
  • Date range — for leave or events spanning multiple days. Toggle "Skip weekends" to exclude Saturdays and Sundays.
  • Leave flags — mark an entry as Annual Leave (AL), Study Leave (SL), or Professional Leave (PL). Leave entries don't require details text — the flag is enough.

Diary indicators on the rota

When you have a diary entry, your column on the rota grid shows a coloured left border: amber for Annual Leave, blue for Study Leave, purple for Professional Leave, slate grey for other entries.

Diary entry
Dr PatelA/L10–14 Feb
Annual leave — conference
Diary indicators on rota
Smith
Patel
Jones
Day
A/L
Night
Long
A/L
SPA
Annual Leave Study Leave Professional Leave

Announcements

Use the "Announcement" type for important team-wide messages. These appear prominently at the top of the diary view for that day.

Self-Service PIN Change

If your department uses a shared generic account (common on ward computers), you can change your personal PIN at any time.

Step 1 — Verify identity
Your name
Dr Patel
Current PIN
•••••
Verify
Step 2 — Set new PIN
New PIN (5 digits)
•••••
Confirm PIN
•••••
Save New PIN
1

Click "Signed in as..." in the header

This opens the identity and PIN management screen.

2

Verify your identity

Select your name from the list and enter your current PIN.

3

Set a new PIN

Enter a new 5-digit PIN. It takes effect immediately.

Warning
Keep your PIN private. It's used to verify your identity when signing into shifts and performing actions on shared computers.

Installing EDRota as an app

You can install EDRota as a standalone app from your profile menu — look for the "Install App" button. On iOS Safari, use "Add to Home Screen" from the share menu instead.

My Shift Changes

See every change that's happened to your shifts — assignments, removals, time updates, and swaps. No need to ask your rota coordinator what changed; it's all in your profile.

My Shift Changes feed
Mon 3 FebUPDATED
Your shift times were updated
Day
Long
by Dr Jones at 14:22
Thu 6 FebCREATED
You were assigned to a shift
Night
by Dr Patel at 09:15
Sat 8 FebDELETED
Your shift was removed
Twi
by Dr Smith at 11:40
1

Open your profile

Click your name in the header to open the Profile modal.

2

Tap "My Shift Changes"

Below the PIN and Password buttons, you'll see the "My Shift Changes" button.

3

Browse by month

Use the month picker to view changes for any month. Each entry shows what changed, who made the change, and when.

What you'll see

  • Human-readable descriptions — "You were assigned to a shift", "Your shift times were updated", "You were removed from this shift".
  • Before and after — colour-coded shift badges showing the old and new state side by side.
  • Who and when — the name of the person who made the change and the exact timestamp.
  • Real-time updates — the feed refreshes automatically when changes happen, even if you have it open.
Tip
This feed only shows changes to your shifts. You don't need any special permissions — every staff member can see their own change history.

Statistics

The Statistics page gives you a breakdown of shift activity for the current role and time period.

Statistics dashboard
42
Total Shifts
8.4
Avg PA
96%
Coverage
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Sun
Weekly shift distribution
  • Shift counts — total shifts by type and by staff member.
  • PA tracking — programmed activities totals compared against contractual targets for the selected period.
  • Leave utilisation — how much of your allocated leave has been used across all categories.
  • KPI cards — headline numbers for total shifts, average PA per staff, and coverage percentages.
Tip
Check statistics regularly to ensure your PA count is on track. If you're falling behind or ahead, speak to your rota coordinator early.

PA/Hours Ledger

If your role uses the PA/Hours Ledger, you'll see a detailed breakdown of your programmed activities (PAs) or hours tracked against your contracted targets.

PA/Hours Ledger — monthly balance
StaffNovDecRunning
TgtActBalTgtActBalBal
Smith10.010.5+0.510.09.2-0.8-0.3
Patel8.07.5-0.58.08.8+0.8+0.3
Jones10.010.00.010.011.3+1.3+1.3
Ahead of target Behind targetValues in PA

What the ledger shows

  • Target — your contracted PA or hours for each month, derived from your job plan.
  • Actual — the PA or hours you've actually worked, calculated from your shifts on the rota.
  • Balance — the difference between actual and target for each month. Green means ahead, red means behind.

Running balance and annualisation

The running balance is cumulative — it adds up your monthly balances over the selected period. This supports annualised contracts where it's normal to be slightly ahead or behind in any given month, as long as things balance out over the year.

If your role has leave adjustment enabled, days of annual leave or other planned leave will reduce your monthly target rather than counting as worked hours. This means your balance stays fair during months with more leave — the ledger expects less from you in those months. You may notice your balance improving when leave is added; this is because the target dropped, not because the leave was counted as work.

DCC/SPA and Clinical/Non-clinical split

Some roles track two activity categories separately. If your role uses PAs, these are called DCC (Direct Clinical Care) and SPA (Supporting Professional Activities). If your role uses Hours, they're labelled Clinical and Non-clinical. When split tracking is enabled, you'll see two rows per staff member — one for each category, each with their own target and balance. Leave adjustments are split proportionally based on your job plan.

Balance on the rota

On the Detailed rota view, a sticky footer row shows your current month's balance at the bottom of each staff column. This gives you an instant at-a-glance reading without visiting the Statistics page.

Tip
Check your balance regularly — catching a shortfall early gives you and your rota coordinator time to adjust. The full picture is in Statistics → Ledger.
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