A study on patients’ waiting time at out-patient pharmacy department of Putrajaya Hospital / Nordiyana Shadom

The purpose of this study is to identify patients waiting time and to investigate the factors that may contribute the delay in waiting time. It’s related to the National pharmacy charter of waiting time where it states that > 90% of the prescription should be dispensed within 30 minutes. An observational retrospective study was carried out in out-patient pharmacy department in Putrajaya Hospital. From the total 1186 prescriptions, 964 were included in this study. Data were collected manually through collecting patients’ daily visited cards where it’s written patients arriving and dispensing time. Result of the study showed that 95% of the prescriptions have been dispensed < 30 minutes, and other 5% was due to delay components. There are some factors that lead to the delay such as too many items that needs to be filled in one prescription, wrong dosage of medications given by the doctors, insufficient counter for dispensing process and so on. The patients’ waiting time issues should be taken seriously by the hospital because the patient’s satisfaction is the important thing to make sure the services given is the best. Moreover delay in waiting time may lead to poor patients’ compliance. So that attempt should therefore be made to overcome the delay of waiting time.