Assessment of Dental Waiting Times and Patient Flow at a General Hospital in Katsina State

Long waiting times at dental clinics discourage healthcare utilisation and reduce patient satisfaction, and studying patient flow at a northern Nigerian district hospital informs service efficiency improvements. This study assessed dental waiting times and patient flow patterns at General Hospital Katsina Dental Clinic, Katsina State, North West Nigeria. A time-motion observational study was conducted over eight weeks, recording waiting time from registration to triage, triage to clinician contact, and treatment completion time for 380 dental outpatient visits. A patient experience questionnaire collected satisfaction data and acceptable waiting time thresholds. Results showed a mean total waiting time of 148 minutes. The registration-to-triage step accounted for 37.8 percent of total waiting time. Only 28.4 percent of patients were seen within 60 minutes of arrival. Emergency pain cases showed longer effective waits than elective patients due to triage misclassification in 23.7 percent of pain cases. Patient-acceptable waiting time threshold was 45 minutes for most respondents, significantly shorter than actual waits. Morning sessions had longer waits than afternoon appointments. Dental officer shortage on days with staff leave significantly worsened waiting times. Recommendations include implementing a triage pain scoring system, increasing dental staffing at Katsina General Hospital, introducing an appointment booking system to distribute patient load, and providing adequate seating and information for waiting patients.

Keywords: dental waiting time, patient flow, General Hospital Katsina, service efficiency, outpatient dental clinic