摘要：Accurate staff scheduling is crucial in overcoming the problem of mismatch between staffing ratios and demand for health services which can impede smooth patient flow. Patient flow is an important process towards provision of improved quality of service and also improved utilization of hospital resources. However, extensive waiting times remains a key source of dissatisfaction with the quality of health care service among patients. With rarely scheduled hospital visits, the in-balance between hospital staffing and health service demand remains a constant challenge in Sub-Saharan Africa. Accurate workload predictions help anticipate financial needs and also aids in strategic planning for the health facility. Using a local health facility for a case study, we investigate problems faced by hospital management in staff scheduling. We apply queuing theory techniques to assess and evaluate the relationship between staffing ratios and waiting times at the facility. Specifically, using patient flow data for a rural clinic in Malawi, we model queue parameters and also approximate recommended staffing ratios to achieve steady state leading to reduced waiting times and consequently, improved service delivery at the clinic.
Significance for public health
This study has shown that queueing theory can be used to discover hidden crucial queue parameters that can guide hospital managers to make informed decision on staffing ratios for improved patient flow leading to a better experience for both staff and patients. Specifically, the study shows that i) there is need to regularly evaluate patient hospital visits patterns since the findings would help hospital administrators to apply dynamic staff allocation strategies tailored to patients flow patterns leading to optimized use of the limited staff; ii) the requirements for the provision of quality health services across the country and the related staff who go with these services varies depending, among other things the utilisation patterns of health services. Hence it is important that the allocation and utilization of medical staff (which are limited) takes into consideration these variations within a country and not solely depending on population or institutional size.
关键词：Key wordsenPatient queuepatient waiting timepatient flowstaff schedulingsingle server multiple phase model
