From Paper Rosters to Peace of Mind: How Lonsdale Total Care Centre Transformed Their Workforce Management

About Lonsdale Total Care Centre

Lonsdale Total Care Centre has been serving the Foxton community in the Horowhenua region for over 40 years. With 61 beds across rest home, hospital-level care, and a specialist dementia unit (Teppett Flats), the facility provides comprehensive aged residential care in a warm, community-focused environment. Managing a diverse team across multiple levels of care and shift patterns, Lonsdale needed a workforce management solution that could handle the realities of aged care staffing, such as last-minute changes, compliance requirements, and accurate payroll processing without adding administrative burden.

The Challenge

Lonsdale had been using a legacy workforce management system housed on their own server. While it had served them well for years, the system’s limitations were becoming increasingly apparent as their needs evolved.

This created several operational challenges:

• Printed rosters that were updated manually in pen when shifts changed, requiring managers to check daily for accuracy
• Paper-based leave management that involved physical forms, emailed PDFs from their payroll provider, and manual cross-referencing to verify leave balances
• Timekeeping that required manual verification when technical issues occurred
• Manual rostering processes that required rebuilding schedules each week around complex aged care patterns
• Server dependency that created vulnerability when technical issues arose
• Disconnected systems requiring constant manual reconciliation between rostering, timekeeping, and payroll

When their existing provider announced they were discontinuing support for the self-hosted product, Lonsdale began exploring modern cloud-based alternatives. The decision gained urgency when their server experienced unexpected downtime, reinforcing the need for a more resilient solution.

The Solution

Lonsdale turned to Simplifi for a cloud-based rostering solution that truly fit the New Zealand aged care context.

What stood out most about Simplifi:

• Cloud-based reliability built on Jade Software Corporation‘s resilient architecture, designed for true business continuity
• Genuine automation through staff work pattern setup that auto-populates rosters, eliminating repetitive weekly tasks
• Seamless payroll integration that syncs directly with their payroll provider, creating one source of truth
• Real-time visibility with leave balances, availability, and timesheets all in one place
• Local NZ support with direct access to people who understand aged care’s unique staffing challenges
• Hands-on implementation support that took the time to tune the system to Lonsdale’s specific ways of working

“The training and support from the team at Simplifi has been a big plus. It takes time to learn a new system, and aged care is ‘messy’ from a staffing point of view, so getting Simplifi tuned to our ways took a bit of time but we had ample support. The ‘Hey Jamie’ phone calls and emails always got fast results.”
– Mark Buckley, General Manager at Lonsdale Total Care Centre

The Results

Since implementing Simplifi, Lonsdale has seen measurable improvements across their operations:

• Significant time savings on rostering through automation of staff work patterns, with hours of repetitive work eliminated every week
• Paperless operations, which means that printed rosters and paper leave forms are now history, with staff fully adapted to the mobile app
• Clearer leave management with at-a-glance calendar views showing who’s off at any time, making approvals instant
• More accurate timesheets with leave balances visible directly on the approval screen, eliminating payroll errors
• Greater operational confidence with comprehensive, clear information available whenever needed

Most Valuable Change

“I like the clarity and comprehensiveness of the information provided. The automation of the roster saves time on a repetitive task.”
– Mark Buckley, General Manager at Lonsdale Total Care Centre

The biggest impact has been the shift from fragmented, manual processes to having clear, comprehensive visibility across all workforce operations. When you can see everything in one place – who’s working, who’s off, what the balances are, where the gaps are – everything else becomes easier.

Lonsdale moved from guessing and cross-referencing to simply knowing. And that clarity has freed up valuable time to focus on what matters most: caring for residents and supporting their team.

Ready to Make Workforce Management Simple?

If your aged care facility is still managing staff with printed rosters, paper forms, and manual cross-referencing, you should consider Simplifi.

Simplifi was built specifically for New Zealand aged care providers who need things to just work, without the complexity, without the fragility, and without the hours of admin every week.

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