Strengthening health systems through training of health care providers in the conduct of routine waiting time and system efficiency surveys.

The effective functioning of Health Systems is reliant on good quality information being available for decision-making. Routine surveys exemplify an under-utilised source of such information that could enable Health Departments to gain insights into the performance of health service provision, from both the stand-point of the providers and users. Amongst these, Waiting Time and System Efficiency Surveys (WTSES) directly responds to the commonest complaint of users of healthcare services. There is, however, little information on approaches to routinely implement robust and sustainable facility-based WTSES especially in resource-constrained settings. This paper describes the conceptual and methodological basis for implementing WTSES in health care facilities, using a method that places the conduct of the survey within the purview of the normal service activities of health care providers, and thus makes the routine assessment of Waiting Times possible at low cost and with high benefit. The authors aver that the universal implementation of the WTSES presents the potential for enriching patient and health facility information systems, particularly in resource-constrained settings, where efficient use of limited resources is critical.