For hospitals
How to fill urgent and night shifts at your hospital
A practical playbook for covering last-minute gaps, nights and emergencies with verified locum doctors, without calling round a list of numbers.
By the MeddStaff TeamPublished 25 Sept 20262 min read
Every hospital knows the call: a doctor is unwell, a theatre list overruns, or the night RMO cannot come in. The usual fix is a round of phone calls and WhatsApp messages until someone says yes. It works, sometimes, but it is slow, and you rarely know much about the doctor who turns up. Here is a better way to cover urgent and night shifts.
1. Post early, with the details that matter
The earlier a shift is posted, the more doctors can plan around it. Include the role, the exact start and end time, the pay and anything a doctor should know before applying. Clear shifts get more applicants, because doctors can decide without calling you first.
2. Use emergency posting for last-minute gaps
On MeddStaff, a shift posted less than six hours before it starts is marked urgent automatically, and you can mark any shift urgent yourself. An emergency shift alerts every available, verified doctor within your coverage radius at once, instead of one phone call at a time.
3. If a shift is not filling, change the offer
A shift that sits unfilled usually needs one of three things: better pay, a wider radius or a different time. On MeddStaff you can change any of them from the shift itself. When you raise the pay or widen the radius, doctors who were already alerted hear about it again, because a better offer is genuinely new information.
4. Only let verified doctors in
Every doctor on MeddStaff has had their medical registration, qualifications and documents reviewed before they can apply. You can also ask for a qualification level and specialty when you post, so an anaesthesia or ICU shift only reaches doctors who can do it.
5. Check attendance without extra paperwork
Doctors check in and out by scanning your hospital QR code, and every shift keeps its own timesheet. You know when the doctor arrived and when they left without chasing a signature.
6. Reward reliability
MeddStaff tracks reliability, including late cancellations, to help you choose between applicants. Over time, your regular shifts go to the doctors who turn up.
MeddStaff is currently free for hospitals. See how hiring works, or go straight to hiring locum doctors in Jaipur.