The problem
The practice manager rebuilds the rota every week around surgery days, weekend cover and holidays, then fields swap requests in the group chat. If that takes 4 hours a week, that's about 17 hours a month (4 x 4.3), and one missed swap can leave a Saturday morning without a nurse.
What the AI does
RotaCloud lets you build the rota by drag and drop from templates, and staff see their shifts in a mobile app. On the Standard plan, staff can request holiday and swap shifts, sickness and absence are tracked, and you see daily, weekly and monthly labor costs, with email and push notifications when things change. The practice manager approves swaps and checks every week that each session has a vet and a nurse, including any out-of-hours cover the practice provides itself.
A worked example
A 3-vet practice in Devon has 14 staff: 3 vets, 5 nurses, 4 receptionists and 2 auxiliaries. The practice manager builds a four-week template in RotaCloud Standard and moves swap requests out of the group chat into the app.
Before
4 hours a week on the rota and swaps, about 17 hours a month
After
About 1.5 hours a week approving requests and checking cover, about 6.5 hours a month
What it's worth
About $286£215€256A$413C$404 a month of practice manager time saved, against about $53£40€48A$77C$75 for RotaCloud. That's 2.5 hours a week x 4.3, about 10.75 hours, at an assumed $27£20€24A$38C$38 an hour.
How to set it up
- Check RotaCloud's price for your team size on its pricing page; it counts every employee, including you and managers. Standard for 11 to 20 staff was $53£40€48A$77C$75 a month on the team-size selector.
- Set up roles, such as vet, RVN, student nurse and receptionist, and the minimum cover each session needs.
- Build a template week, copy it forward and adjust for holidays.
- Tell the team that swaps and holiday requests go through the app only, and approve them there.
- Each Friday, check next week has a vet and a nurse on every session, including weekends and any out-of-hours cover.
What goes wrong
- RotaCloud doesn't know your RCVS duties. The RCVS Code expects practices to make arrangements for 24-hour emergency cover; whether that's your own rota or an out-of-hours provider, a person checks it every week.
- The price counts everyone, including the owner and managers, so growing past 20 staff moves you into the next band.
- Working time rules still apply to late finishes followed by early starts. Don't assume the rota flags them; check the settings.
- SMS notifications and time and attendance are paid extras.