ACEMS PhD student Achini Erandi continued her ARCL related studies under the supervision of AIs Mark Fackrell and Joyce Zhang.

Their research involves developing staff rosters that minimise donor wait times by taking the demand required in donor centres into consideration. Minimising donor wait time is a key factor in improving the donor experience and encouraging ongoing blood donations and donor recruitment.

In December, Achini presented her PhD research on the topic “Staff Rostering at a Blood Donation Centre” to the International School in Artificial Intelligence and its Applications in Computer Science at Monash University. This presentation featured a case study for the Melbourne CBD donor centre that had significantly reduced donor wait times to just six minutes. Further work will continue in 2022 and aims to benefit ARCL as well as other blood donor organisations.

In 2022, Achini, Mark and Joyce will continue to meet with the ARCL’s research team and leadership to further improve scheduling and rostering in ARCL donor centres. The first meeting will be held in February with senior staff from the ARCL including Professor David Irving (Director of Research and Development, Clinical Services and Research), Glen Shuttleworth (National Marketing Analyst) and Linden Wyatt (Workflow and Scheduling Lead, Manufacturing). This will be an opportune time to discuss further opportunities for ACEMS Researchers and the ARCL to extend their collaboration beyond the life of ACEMS which has already delivered beneficial outcomes to ARCL.

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