How a 30-day difficult-shift coverage pilot works

Short answer: you nominate one or two facilities and the specific shifts that keep failing. Carehaven inducts a small local worker pod to those sites, covers the agreed shift types for 30 days, reports fill, cancellation and continuity weekly, and sits down with you at day 30 to review. No exclusivity, no minimum shift commitment.

Want to test coverage without a procurement commitment? The pilot is designed to prove the model on real shifts before anything is signed. Start a 30-day pilot →

Why a pilot, not a panel agreement

Most agency relationships start with a rate card and a promise. A pilot starts with evidence. It lets you see, on your own difficult shifts, whether a local pod holds continuity and reduces avoidable agency use before you commit. With only 44–54% of services meeting both their total-care-minute and RN-minute targets across 2024–25, you want proof against your own numbers, not a reference from someone else's site.

Step 1 — Facility induction

Before any shift is filled, the pod is inducted to your facility: your policies, systems, layout, clinical handover, medication process and escalation pathway. Induction is what separates a named, oriented worker from an agency stranger, and it is why continuity holds from the first week.

Step 2 — A defined worker pod

We assign a small, defined pod — primary and reserve workers credentialed for the roles you need. It is sized to your agreed shifts, with reserve depth so a single absence doesn't collapse the cover. You know who is coming; the pod knows your floor.

Step 3 — Agreed shift types

You and Carehaven agree exactly which shifts the pilot covers — for example Saturday and Sunday night RN, recurring PM gaps, or a known outbreak-surge pattern. The pilot targets the lines that carry your risk and your care minutes, not every shift on the roster.

Step 4 — Weekly fill, cancellation & continuity reporting

Each week you receive three numbers that matter: fill rate against the agreed shifts, cancellation rate, and continuity (how often the same inducted workers delivered the cover). These map directly onto the care-minute and Star Rating performance you have to defend — so the pilot's value is visible, not anecdotal.

Step 5 — No exclusivity

You keep your existing arrangements. The pilot runs alongside them so you can compare like for like, and there is no minimum shift commitment. If it doesn't earn a bigger role, you've lost nothing but a month of side-by-side data.

Step 6 — Day-30 review

At day 30 we review the reporting together: did the pod hold continuity, did it reduce avoidable agency use, and did it protect the shifts tied to your minutes? From there you decide whether to extend, widen to more shifts or sites, or stop. The decision sits with your evidence, not our pitch.

Service area: Melbourne's outer north (Donnybrook, Craigieburn, Epping, Whittlesea) through Mitchell and the Macedon Ranges to Greater Bendigo.

Realistic expectations

The pilot proves reliable coverage of forecast and recurring gaps, and faster, better-briefed response to short-notice absences than a distant database. It does not promise an unqualified "instant" fill for every 2am call — no honest provider can. Mobilisation times are agreed with you up front. In practice: through the COVID-19 staffing crisis (May 2022 – March 2023), Carehaven supplied continuous RN and care-worker cover across a national aged-care provider’s homes — every shift including weekends and holidays, to the provider’s staffing preferences, with monthly hours-by-facility reporting. “Carehaven was an incredible support for us. Whether it was last-minute requests or longer-term bookings, I could always count on them for finding staff.” — General Services Manager, Arcare.

Frequently asked

Does the pilot lock us into anything afterwards?

No. There is no exclusivity and no minimum shift commitment. The day-30 review is a decision point, not a renewal you have to opt out of.

What does the pilot cost?

Shifts are charged at agreed pilot rates for the cover you use; the review and reporting are part of the model.

How many facilities can we pilot?

Typically one or two sites, so the pod stays local and inducted and the data stays clean. Multi-site rollouts follow a successful pilot.

Is this just agency with a nicer name?

No. Agency bills you per gap and improves nothing; the pilot uses a defined, inducted local pod with continuity reporting, and is explicitly designed to reduce avoidable agency use while protecting your care minutes.

Your next step → Book an Executive Workforce Review →

Prove coverage on your hardest shifts in 30 days

No exclusivity, no minimum commitment. Book a free Workforce Review first, or go straight to a 30-day pilot at one or two facilities.

Start a 30-day pilot →

Or call our workforce team on 1300 310 605

Closing 24/7 RN roster gaps without runaway agency cost → Care minutes: what facility leaders should measure → Why agency cancellations happen — and how to cut them → What a local worker pod is (and why it beats a database) →

General information for aged-care operators, not clinical, legal or funding advice. Figures cited from Australian Government aged-care data, Jan 2026 and the 2024–25 sector financial report; confirm current data before relying on it.