The Doctor Rostering Problem - Asser Fahrenholz

Chapter 1
Introduction
During the last five decades, growing interest in optimisation and efficiency has put focus
on developing, not just valid schedules, but good schedules. Even though computerisa-
tion and mathematics has come to the aid of a lot of workplaces, many still use manual
scheduling to satisfy both production needs as well as employee happiness. Without the
aid of decision support tools, the creation of a good solution for any non-trivial problem,
takes overview, coordination and most importantly, time. In health care institutions,
ward managers usually spends upwards 10 to 20 hours each quarter, or even monthly,
to plan a good schedule, and even then, some needs are not met. Finally, measuring
the quality of the schedule is troublesome, due to the constraints and the number of
decisions that needs to be made.
The medical practice in St. Heddinge houses six doctors, taking care of patients in the
immediate vicinity, unless the patient needs hospitalisation. At least one of these six
doctors must be available for treating acute patients during working hours. The Doctor
Rostering Problem (DRP) is the problem of assigning one or more doctors to noon and
afternoon shifts, in such a way that certain shift- and employee-requirements are met.
In this thesis, I take a practical approach to solving the problem.
1.1 Purpose
The purpose of this thesis is to:
1. Develop an objective function or cost function measuring the value of solutions for
the DRP.
2. Provide a solution, within a relatively short amount of time, to the DRP.
1