A Qualitative Study to Understand and Analyse the Impact of Organisational Factors on Hospital Waiting Time in Dammam, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background: Globally, the healthcare sector is marred by the persistence of unnecessary long wait times. It is despite numerous efforts to optimise health service delivery to reduce patient suffering (Hill, Classen, Romay, & Diaz, 2018). In particular, wait times are a common problem in the Saudi Arabian healthcare system (Alsharqi, Al Barakati, Aziz, Mohammad, & Mohammad, 2017). Currently, the Saudi Arabian healthcare system is faced with a population explosion, privatization, and budget cuts, which are believed to contribute significantly to longer wait times, especially in public facilities (Colliers International, 2018). This element has led to the negative perception of these facilities, patient dissatisfaction, poor patient outcomes, and an overall increase of care costs (Rahman & Alsharqi, 2019). Due to these effects, the government expenditure in the healthcare sector is growing each successive year (Colliers International, 2018). Despite the government’s apparent commitment to improve health care outcomes, long wait times remain an issue of concern in Saudi Arabian hospitals, primarily in outpatient departments. Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate how hospital waiting times in outpatient departments in Dammam are influenced by organizational, staff, and management factors. Research design and methods: The current study utilised a qualitative research design to fulfil the set objective. Data was collected through interviewing the sampled staff in various departments in the Maternity and Children's Hospital in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. Out of the 80 employees in the facility, 10 participants consisting of a mix of nurses, physicians, receptionists, administrators, a pharmacist, and laboratory technician met the inclusion criteria and were willing to be part of the study. The ideas of the staff members in relation to organizational, staff, and management factors were examined as well as their recommendations on certain aspects. Results: Despite the diversity of the staff interviewed for this study, the results indicated that the respondents agreed unanimously that waiting time was a significant problem. However, differences in the perception of the significance of the impact were noted. The research also found that administrative decision-making and staffing were the most important factors in the hospital. According to the participants, specific managerial decisions had reduced wait times significantly. The respondents also agreed that other decisions contributed to longer wait times. Moreover, staffing issues, including the number of employees, vacation policies, and scheduling were found to have a significant effect on waiting times. When asked to provide some suggestions to decrease waiting times, the participants provided practical recommendations, including the removal of decisions they felt increased wait times, a rise in the number of staff; and a re-evaluation of vacation policies, training requirements, and scheduling. Conclusion: The findings suggest in-depth research of organizational, staff, and management factors intended to reduce wait times before implementation to ensure that they achieve this goal. In particular, the organizational decision-making and staffing issues must be addressed effectively to lower wait times. Thus, there are numerous implications for hospital management, human resource management, and staff derived from the study; importantly, they are to implement appropriate strategies to overcome the discussed problem. In terms of future directions in this research, it is suggested to investigate wait times from the staff perspective, demystify the incongruity of staff and patient perspectives in relation to wait times, and conduct comprehensive research by involving multiple health facilities and considering the unique nature of those facilities. .