Visiting roster
A visiting roster so someone comes every day, and not everyone at once
Set the visiting times, add the family and friends who want to go, and FairTurns gives each day to one or two people. Nobody sits alone for a week, and the ward isn’t crowded on Sunday.
Free, with no limit on people or dates. No card.
Six visitors on Sunday, nobody from Tuesday to Friday
Mariam broke her hip and is in rehab for six weeks, forty minutes from most of the family. The ward allows two visitors at a time, 2 till 4 and 6 till 8. The first Sunday, eight people arrived together and the nurses had to ask half of them to wait in the corridor. Then nobody came from Tuesday until Friday, because everyone assumed one of the cousins was going.
A long stay in hospital, rehab or a care home is lonely in a way a short one isn’t. What helps most is a familiar face most days, someone who notices she hasn’t eaten or that her glasses are missing. That only happens if the visits are planned and everybody can see the plan.
FairTurns lays the weeks out as visiting slots, shares them between the people who want to go, and shows the whole family who is going when.
How FairTurns plans the visits
Slots inside visiting hours
Add a slot for each day you want covered, such as 2 till 4 on weekdays, set to repeat every week.
One or two at a time
Give the Visitor position a headcount that matches the ward rules, so no slot has more people rostered than the nurses will let in.
Shared out by turns
Fill gives each visit to whoever has had the fewest, so the daughter who lives closest isn’t doing every visit.
Away weeks
Family members travelling or working away mark the days they can’t go, and Fill leaves them off.
Friends without accounts
Add neighbours, old workmates or a community visitor by name. They’re on the roster with no email needed.
When the move home comes
Cancel the remaining visits, or carry the same people on to a care roster at home in the same organisation.
Set it up
- 01
Start the roster
Create an organisation, such as “Visits for Teta Mariam”, and a team called Visits.
- 02
Set the headcount
Add a Visitor position with the number the ward allows at once.
- 03
Add the visitors
Paste the names of family and friends, with emails for those who want reminders.
- 04
Add the visiting slots
Click a day, set the visiting hours and choose Every week on that day.
- 05
Fill and share
Press Fill for the next month and send the link to the family group.
When you want it to run itself
Pro emails a reminder to each visitor who has accepted an invitation the day before their visit. If they can’t go, they reply from the email and FairTurns asks the next person in line, so a slot doesn’t quietly go empty.
A$1 a month per organisation, paid 1 to 5 years at a time. See Pro and pricing
Good to know
- Shorter, more frequent visits are usually better than a long one. An hour most days does more than four hours on a Sunday.
- Visitors don’t pick their own days: you put them on, and they mark the days they’re away. It’s a roster, not a booking system.
- Keep medical details, room numbers and the patient’s full name off the roster. The public link can be seen by anyone who has it.
- Away days are whole days, so someone who can only go in the evening is best placed on the evening slot by hand.
Questions
How many visitors a day is right?
For most people in hospital or rehab, one visit a day of an hour or so, within visiting hours, is welcome without being tiring. Ask the nurses, and set the Visitor headcount to match.
Can we cover afternoons and evenings?
Yes. Add an afternoon slot and an evening slot as separate repeating dates. Within your roster, nobody is put on two slots at overlapping times.
Can a volunteer visitor from a community group be included?
Yes. Add them by name, or invite them by email, and they’re rostered like anyone else. Put them on by hand on the days that suit their programme, and Fill works around them.
What happens when the stay is extended?
The weekly slots keep themselves 3 to 12 months ahead, so the dates are already there. Press Fill again for the extra weeks.
Does it cost anything?
The visiting roster is free, with no limit on people or dates. Pro reminders are A$1 a month, paid 1 to 5 years at a time.
Free templates and guides
Sharing care of a parent
How brothers and sisters can share the visits, driving and paperwork for an ageing parent without falling out.
Roster template
A blank roster with date, time, job and name columns. Print it, or open it in Excel or Sheets.
Public roster link
One read-only link anyone can open on a phone. No sign-in, nothing to install, no email addresses.
Similar rosters
Family care roster
Visits, shopping and appointments for an ageing parent, shared between brothers, sisters and helpers.
Meal roster
Dinners for a family with a new baby, an illness or a loss, shared between friends on one page.
Volunteer roster
A free volunteer roster app: shifts shared out by turns, away days respected, one link for everyone.