International Journal of Research Studies in Medical and Health Sciences Volume 5, Issue 8, 2020, PP 01-13 ISSN : 2456-6373 International Journal of Research Studies in Medical and Health Sciences V5 ● I8 ● 2020 1 Comparative Study on the Performance of Health Workers in the Reduction of Patients Waiting Time in Public Hospitals in Yenagoa Diri, G.E. 1 and Eledo, B.O. 1,2* 1 Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa 2 Department of Medical Laboratory Science, Madonna University, Nigeria *Corresponding Author: Eledo, B.O., Department of Medical Laboratory Science, Madonna University, Nigeria INTRODUCTION The amount of time a patient waits to be seen by a doctor is one factor which affects the utilization of health care services especially in government hospitals. Patients‟ waiting time has emerged as an increasingly important parameter in the assessment of quality health care, hence health care facility performance can best be assessed by measuring patients‟ satisfaction which also depends on the reduction of patients‟ waiting time. It is difficult to sell services if individuals are not satisfied with the waiting time which is the length of time from when the patient entered the waiting room or the consulting room to the time the patient actually leaves the hospital (Markey and cole, 1997). Waiting time has become a factor in relating with current users of the health facilities to assess the quality and performance of health care service providers as well as an index in measuring patients‟ satisfaction. A completely satisfied patient believes that the organization has the potential in understanding patient‟s needs and demand related to health care promptly (net et al, 2007). It is a globally accepted fact that a well designed health system renders timely and convenient ABSTRACT The satisfaction of healthcare service received by patients is crucial to them and it is traceable to the reduction of their waiting time in the hospital. The outpatient department of any hospital is described as the gateway of the hospital as it is usually the first point of contact between the patients and the facility. It is therefore ensure that the healthcare/service providers are of good behaviour (politeness) and experience in delivering the expected services to the clients to prevent prolonged waiting. Therefore, reducing waiting time and making sure that patients are given the needed attention at the right time will have a significant impact on the quality of healthcare services patients received. Patients are attended to in various outpatients’ units within the hospital at various times. Lengthy time is considered to be usually frustrating to the patients thereby making them to be totally dissatisfied with the services they received from the hospital. Thus, the study aimed at investigating and comparing the performance of health workers in delivering various services in the reduction of patients’ waiting time in three major public hospitals in Yenagoa, Bayelsa state. The study used simple random sampling technique to examined 300 participants who were randomly drawn from the pool of patients of an infinite population, using patients’ waiting time as a parameter to measure their performance. Out of the one hundred (100) questionnaires administered to each of the three hospitals, Sixty eight (68) questionnaires were filled and retrieved from FMC and NDTH while sixty six (66) were retrieved from DKMH. Frequency and simple percentage distribution methods of analyses were employed to analyze the data. Based on the standards set by the Patients Charter of the United Kingdom (UK), which states that all patients must be seen within 30minutes of their appointment time. Thus, the waiting time on this study was set within 30minutes to measure the performance of the health workers of the three major public hospitals in Bayelsa state. From the findings, the three hospitals were able to attend to their outpatients within 30minutes on the average of their appointment time. Though, the amount of time doctors spent in attending to their patients differed from the various hospitals; FMC and NDTH spent 30minutes -1hour. Therefore, FMC and NDTH doctors are fairly efficient. However, DKMH doctors spent 15-30minutes hence, they are more efficient. The cleanliness and comfort of the OPD from the findings, FMC was good but DKMH and NDTH were not too good or too bad. The receptionists for all the three hospitals were very good with their performance from the rating of the patients. Keywords: Public Hospitals, Reduction of Patient's Waiting Time, Performance of Health Workers.