Application of Queuing Theory in Hospitals : Application of Queuing Theory to Waiting Times of Out-patients in Hospitals

Queuing is a common occurrence in our daily life. People queue to be served in banks,workshops,bus stops, motor parks e.t.c.Apart from man-hours lost to queuing per day,it also leads to break down of law and order in situations where people try to jump queues.Hospitals are establishments where queuing is common.Cases have been witnessed where out-patients,while waiting,develop complications which can lead to death if quick medication is not provided.It happens to patients of Asthma,Heart disease,convulsion e.t.c.It is therefore necessary to evaluate the waiting times of out-patients with a view to reducing it to the minimum.This work analyzed the waiting time of out-patients at University of Ado-Ekiti Health Centre.Data were collected for 100 patients;the arrival times,time service begins,time service ends,and the departure time for each patient were recorded for 14 days. From the analysis,the arrival rate,service rate, traffic intensity,average number of patients in queue,average number of patients in queue,average number of patients in the system,average time spent on queue among other things were obtained for the health centre,from which necessary interpretations made.