Utilization pattern and patients’ accessibility to the Out Patient Department, District General Hospital, Kalutara

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Out patient department (OPD) is an important wing of a hospital. Assessment of patient information is essential to set priorities, allocate resources and to improve the quality. OBJECTIVES: This paper outlines the demography of patients, their accessibility to the OPD, distribution of patients by time, the waiting time in the OPD, District General Hospital, Kalutara. Methods: Descriptive cross sectional study of three months in a sample of 423 patients of 18-70 years were collected using systematic sampling by two trained assistants with an interviewer administered questionnaire. RESULTS: Average daily attendance was 1154 patients; 53% attended before 10 am; 35% belonged to the age group 31-45 years; two thirds were females; majority had education in the range of “Grade 6-10”; one third had come within “1-5 kilometer”; this was the closest OPD for 77% of patients; majority had spent less than 30 minutes for arrival and bus was the main mode of transport. Majority were registered and seen by a doctor within 30 minutes; consultation time was limited to less than 5 minutes in 78%; 35% had spent 1-3 hours in the dispensary; 50% had taken more than 30 minutes for the investigations and finally 56% had spent 1-3 hours and 22% had spent more than 3 hours in the OPD. CONCLUSIONS: Measures need to be taken to redistribute the staff according to the patient load and to improve waiting time.