“Sona felt so modern. It felt really adaptable - it's like the Netflix approach to rostering. You turn it on one day, and there's an update and there's a message to tell you what the update is.”
The Challenge
Cartrefi Cymru needed to digitise operations across complex care settings including night/sleep cover. Managers were losing thousands of hours to manual scheduling, and the organisation lacked real-time data to evidence costs to boards and local authorities.
“I'd recommend Sona for the service alone. The support you get from the team you wouldn't get anywhere else.”
The Solution
Cartrefi Cymru deployed Sona to replace manual scheduling, including complex night/sleep cover patterns. The platform integrates seamlessly with Nourish to cut duplicate data entry and save managers even more time.
| Before Sona | After Sona |
|---|---|
| Managers losing thousands of hours to manual rota work | 26,000 manager hours saved annually |
| £300k+ per year in avoidable staffing costs | £300k+ saved through optimised shift planning |
| No cross-site shift visibility for staff | Staff can see and book shifts across any location via the app |
The platform eliminated the thousands of hours lost to manual scheduling, giving managers real-time visibility across sites and the data they needed to evidence costs to boards and local authorities.
“It just simplifies and standardises, but it gives us really good organisational oversight ... In the last five weeks alone, we've saved over 400 hours in agency.”
The Results
Within the first five weeks of going live, Cartrefi Cymru achieved:
- 26,000 manager hours released annually
- 400 agency hours saved in the first 5 weeks
- Staff able to view and book shifts across any location
- Real-time operational visibility across complex care settings
“If you talk to my team, they speak very positively about Sona and how everything is convenient and accessible. It's much easier for them, they can check their own annual leave and other things, which is helpful.”
