This week, Core Schedule was proud to exhibit at the ANZICS/ACCCN Annual Scientific Meeting 2025 in Christchurch — one of Australasia’s most significant gatherings of intensive care professionals.
Across three days, our Chief Customer Officer, Candice Togia, had the opportunity to connect with clinicians, ICU nurses, managers, allied health professionals, and researchers dedicated to transforming patient care through innovation and collaboration.
Meaningful Conversations with Frontline Leaders
Rich conversations on the intersection of culture, equity, and clinical workforce planning were inspiring. Attendees shared how incorporating cultural competencies, including traditional skills and spoken languages, can enhance care for whānau in crisis. Visibility of these skills within rostering systems emerged as a critical need.
There was strong interest in how Core Schedule could support skill mix visibility, gender and language data, and improved workforce wellbeing — especially among researchers and nurse leaders from across New Zealand and Australia. It was clear that many current systems are not fit-for-purpose in healthcare settings and create more friction than support.
One particular highlight was hearing from a researcher focused on the link between poor rostering systems and workforce burnout — reinforcing the value of purpose-built tools that support both operational efficiency and staff wellbeing.
Positive Reception to Real-World Impact
Attendees were especially impressed by features like:
- Skill mix visibility
- iCal integration for seamless calendar syncing
- Live access to rosters from home or mobile devices
- Templates for repeating shift patterns
- Availability insights for casual staff pools
Our intuitive, user-friendly interface struck a chord with ICU teams tired of relying on WhatsApp chats, physical notice boards, or spreadsheets to manage shift availability and communication.
Health services such as Healthscope, RBWH, Monash Health, Hawkes Bay ICU, and St Vincent’s Hospital showed strong engagement, reflecting a shared urgency for modern solutions that reduce admin burden and return clinical staff to the floor.
System Gaps and Shared Challenges
We consistently heard frustration with existing platforms (non Core Schedule) — particularly around lack of flexibility, poor integration, and limited cultural sensitivity. Many organisations voiced the need for:
- Better integration with systems
- Compliance with MECA agreements
- Roster rules to manage short-notice cancellations, such as auto-restrictions on future shift availability if someone repeatedly cancels on short notice
These insights are invaluable as we continue evolving Core Schedule to meet the real-world needs of healthcare teams.
In Summary
The ANZICS/ACCCN ASM 2025 conference highlighted just how critical effective rostering is in delivering safe, equitable, and sustainable healthcare. Thank you to everyone who stopped by our booth — your feedback and stories are helping us shape a better future for workforce planning in critical care.
We look forward to continuing these conversations and supporting more ICUs across Australasia and beyond.
– The Core Schedule Team