Requesting changes to an NHS rota

Ask before the roster is approved. National NHS England guidance on e-rostering says rosters should be approved and published at least six weeks before they are worked, and that leave should be booked before approval. A request in that window is far easier to grant than one made after the roster is out. Your trust’s e-rostering policy sets the exact deadlines and how requests are submitted.

Where the rules come from

There is no national rule that gives you a right to a particular shift or day off. Rota requests are handled under your trust’s e-rostering policy, which should follow NHS England’s good practice guide for nursing and midwifery. That guide is written for nursing and midwifery teams, so other staff groups should check what their own trust policy says. The Terms and Conditions Handbook covers requests for a lasting change in your working pattern under flexible working, in Section 33.

Two routes are therefore open to you. One is a request for particular days or leave on a roster. The other is a request to change your pattern, which is a flexible working request.

Making a request on the roster

The e-rostering guide says staff should be able to view the roster and request leave through a mobile app or web portal, at least six weeks in advance, and that staff should use that system to make requests to the roster team. Ask your manager which system your ward or team uses and whether requests go to the manager or an e-rostering team.

A trust policy should say how requests are handled. The guide’s checklist lists a maximum number of days off within a roster period, consideration in light of service needs, working restrictions or flexible working needs, and fairness in allocating shifts. You can ask, and your request is weighed against colleagues’ requests and cover. Popular dates such as Christmas, New Year and school holidays often have their own rules. The guide checklist includes a section for them.

Annual leave is managed against headroom, the budgeted allowance for leave and sickness. The guide says leave should be spread evenly through the year, and that e-roster systems can cap how many staff are on leave at once. Some trusts also set how much leave to take by certain points in the year, with 50% by six months given as an example. The annual leave and sick leave guide covers how absence interacts with leave.

Swaps once the roster is published

Whether you can swap shifts with a colleague after publication is a local rule. The e-rostering guide expects swapped shifts to be recorded on the roster, so tell your manager before you agree a swap with a colleague, not after. The rest and working time limits behind this are in NHS shift patterns.

When you need a lasting change

If you need something regular, such as no weekends, fixed days, or fewer nights, ask for it as a flexible working request. NHS England’s good practice guide refers to these as working restrictions, and says they should be formally agreed between the ward, HR and you, with a review at least once a year.

The Handbook says NHS staff in organisations it covers can request flexible working from day one of employment, with no limit on the number of requests in any 12-month period and regardless of the reason. Its list of options includes fixed patterns, part-time work, compressed hours, term-time working and team self-rostering. A local process should include a meeting to explore options, an escalation stage if the request is not agreed, and, if refused, specific written reasons with alternatives considered and details of an appeal. You have the right to be represented by a trade union representative in the appeal meeting.

GOV.UK says all employees can request flexible working from their first day, and an employer can refuse for a good business reason. If a request is not handled reasonably, you can go to an employment tribunal. Northern Ireland has different rules. See flexible working requests and flexible working across the public sector.

If the reason is a disability, say so in your request. The Handbook process encourages applicants to flag that the request supports a reasonable adjustment.