Workflow Analysis in the Emergency Ward of a Federal Teaching Hospital in Sokoto State

This study applies industrial engineering workflow analysis techniques to the emergency ward of a federal teaching hospital in Sokoto State, North West Nigeria, with the aim of identifying process inefficiencies that contribute to patient waiting time and clinical throughput constraints. The application of industrial engineering methods to healthcare settings, often termed healthcare operations management, has yielded substantial improvements in patient flow and resource utilisation in documented international cases; however, its adoption in Nigerian public hospital management remains limited. This research employs process flow charting, value stream mapping, and discrete-event simulation to model patient flow from emergency admission through triage, initial assessment, investigation, and disposition. Data were collected through structured observation and timing of patient journeys across one hundred and twenty emergency episodes over four weeks. Findings reveal that diagnostic investigation waiting time accounts for forty-three percent of total patient journey time, driven by centralised laboratory processing and transportation delays for samples. The simulation model demonstrates that decentralising point-of-care diagnostic equipment to the emergency ward could reduce mean patient journey time by thirty-seven minutes. Recommendations include procuring a bedside point-of-care blood analyser, revising the triage classification protocol, and establishing a dedicated emergency ward clinical coordinator role. Keywords: workflow analysis, emergency ward, value stream mapping, Sokoto State, healthcare operations