Simulation of queuing at a Psychiatric and Mental Health Hospital’s Outpatient Department in Southern Peninsular Malaysia

The increased number of patients and a lack of staff and facilities contributed to long waits and overcrowding in the government hospital. As a result, this study aims to investigate the seriousness of the queueing at the government hospital’s Psychiatric and Mental Health Outpatient Department (PMHOD) in Southern Peninsular Malaysia and to offer any acceptable solutions. Further, we determine the process flow of the patients getting full treatment in the outpatient department. This process includes patients arriving at the hospital, receiving treatment and medication, and leaving the facility. We then collected the data on the real-time spent by patients to complete the process flow. A replication model of this process flow was created using Arena simulation software. The queueing scenario in the PHMOD was then examined utilizing the real and simulated outcomes. The results suggest that the outpatient department’s queueing system has a significant wait time. Based on the findings, a strategy to shorten patient wait times was presented. This study aided the outpatient department in analyzing and evaluating the current queueing mechanism without interfering with real-world events.