Factors affecting waiting time in Outpatient Pharmacy at Hospital Raja Perempuan Zainab II (HRPZ II)

Abstract

Introduction: World Health Organization (WHO) has identified that patient waiting time as one of the most important measurements of a responsive health system for healthcare services. Outpatient pharmacy is associated with patient waiting time as the indicator for satisfaction of the services. This study aimed to determine the factors affecting waiting time in Hospital Raja Perempuan Zainab II, Kelantan. Materials and method: A cross sectional study was conducted by collecting prescription received in outpatient pharmacy from 1st October 2020 till 31st December 2020. All prescriptions prescribed manually were excluded. Multiple linear regression was performed to determine the factors affecting waiting time and the data were analysed using SPSS version 25. Results: A total of 248 prescriptions were collected in outpatient pharmacy. The mean waiting time in outpatient pharmacy was 23.0 minutes (SD = 11.0). Waiting time was found to be associated with number of medications in the prescription, number of staff working on that day, prescriptions which required intervention and filling personnel. Conclusion: The waiting time at the outpatient pharmacy of HRPZ II indicated the acceptable range of quality services which met the patient’s satisfaction. Future studies are needed to confirm the satisfaction level of patients and further improve quality of the service.