The calendar is public
Festival OPD dips, post-festival surges, seasonal disease patterns — none of this is a surprise. The hospital that rosters, stocks, and schedules electives against the known calendar buys itself calm at retail prices.
Leave and locums, decided early
The leave-request pileup resolves fairly only when the window and the rules are announced months out. Locum arrangements made in advance cost planning; the same arrangements made mid-crisis cost premiums.
| Item | Standard | Consequence / owner |
|---|---|---|
| Roster freeze | Published with the leave window | HR, months out |
| Pharmacy + consumables | Seasonal stock adjusted | Purchase, weeks out |
| Elective list | Shifted off the trough | Scheduling |
| ER staffing | Surge pattern anticipated | Duty roster |
| Vendor coverage | Service contracts’ festival SLAs checked | Admin |
Elective scheduling around the trough
Elective procedures scheduled into the festival trough face cancellations from the patient’s side; the same list placed the week after meets a motivated backlog. Move the list, not the effort.
What to do on Monday
- Mark this year’s troughs and surges on the ops calendar now.
- Announce the leave window and rules this month.
- Reschedule electives out of the trough weeks.
Worked examples on this page are illustrative arithmetic on stated assumptions, not measured market statistics.