Customer Success
Aligning 5,000 frontline employees with patient demand across London
Watch the Rostering Demo200
Frontline Rosters Redesigned
70
Ambulance Stations Optimised
3,414 Hours
Additional Workforce Hours Released
92 %
Workforce Sign-Off Achieved, up from <50% for previous roster patterns
Who Are They
The organisation employs approximately 8,000 staff and volunteers and supports communities across Greater London through a network of ambulance stations, operational hubs and frontline clinical teams.
As demand for emergency healthcare services continued to increase, the Trust needed to ensure frontline resources were deployed as effectively as possible while maintaining high standards of patient care and workforce wellbeing.
Challenge
The Trust recognised that many existing shift patterns, rotas and rosters no longer reflected patient demand across London.
This misalignment created operational inefficiencies, increased overtime expenditure and resulted in greater reliance on private ambulance services.
At the same time, the organisation needed to:
- Improve response times during evenings and weekends.
- Better align ambulance availability with changing demand patterns.
- Protect training and development time for staff.
- Improve workforce sustainability and retention.
- Demonstrate to commissioners that resources were being deployed effectively.
There wasn’t a quick and reliable way to see things, like leave days or individual team schedules. A lot of it had to be done manually, which took time. On top of that, too many people had access to make changes, which made it harder to keep information locked down, consistent and correct.
Reporting was another layer of work for the team. Pulling together accurate information
for the wider business often meant extra steps and repeated manual checks.
The Solution
Totalmobile worked alongside London Ambulance Service to redesign frontline Workforce Rostering using specialist workforce planning, rostering and optimisation expertise.
Using demand modelling, workforce data and specialist roster design software, the project developed new roster patterns aligned to operational demand across the capital.
The project involved extensive workforce engagement. Representatives from management, operations, trade unions and frontline teams participated in a structured review process designed to build confidence in the data, gather feedback and develop roster options tailored to local requirements.
Over a six-month period, the project team conducted 88 consultation meetings across 22 operational complexes, helping create more than 200 new frontline rosters across the service.
- Designed and implemented 200 new frontline rosters.
- Delivered workforce changes across 70 ambulance stations.
- Released an additional 3,414 workforce hours from the existing workforce.
- Reduced overtime expenditure.
- Reduced reliance on private ambulance services.
- Improved alignment between ambulance availability and patient demand.
- Protected workforce training time through dedicated roster design.
- Improved patient care through more appropriate resource deployment throughout the day and year.
- Improved workforce wellbeing through reduced utilisation rates and better shift planning.
Results
Totalmobile’s Field First Platform has achieved:
200
Frontline Rosters Redesigned
70
Ambulance Stations Optimised
3,414 Hours
Additional Workforce Hours Released
92 %
Workforce Sign-Off Achieved, up from <50% for previous roster patterns
Supporting Workforce Engagement
Previous internal roster reviews had often struggled to gain widespread acceptance from frontline teams. Building trust in both the data and the process became a central part of this programme.
By involving stakeholders from the beginning and providing transparent roster modelling, the Trust achieved significantly stronger engagement and acceptance across the workforce.
- 92% of new roster patterns approved during the programme.
- Significant improvement on previous reviews where fewer than 50% of roster patterns achieved sign-off.
- Increased workforce involvement in roster design and decision-making.
Delivering Better Patient Outcomes
The roster redesign was ultimately focused on improving patient care. By ensuring vehicle availability and workforce deployment better reflected patterns of demand, the Trust was able to improve response capability while supporting more effective use of public funding.
The programme also helped demonstrate to commissioners that the Trust had a sustainable and future-focused workforce planning approach capable of meeting the needs of London’s growing population.
London Ambulance Service is now the busiest emergency ambulance service in the world. Their main role is to respond to emergency 999 calls, providing medical care to patients across the capital, 24-hours a day, 365 days a year.
Looking Ahead
By moving towards demand-led workforce planning, London Ambulance Service created a stronger foundation for future service delivery. The project demonstrated how workforce rostering can support operational efficiency, strengthen workforce sustainability and improve patient outcomes when aligned directly with service demand.
The approach continues to provide a framework for future workforce planning and operational improvement across ambulance services.
