Simulating hospital patient flows.

This case study development has benefited by the use of clear on-screen logic which has facilitated useful discussions between the analyst and end-users. The screen displays enable a realistic depiction of a system to be developed. A simple first model was gradually made more realistic in a step-by-step process involving both analyst and end-users. The investigation is continuing and the model is being further refined. Data collection is underway, and system data will be used to provide the model's input parameters of arrival and service rates. Times and lengths of queues of patients and total time in the system will be compared with their model equivalents. The resulting model is likely to be acceptable to the end-users because of their involvement in its development. This involvement has been facilitated by a simulation environment which enables on-screen iconic representations of system components to be created by analyst and end-user together.