Abstract
The Paper aimed at reducing the waiting time of Patients in Antenatal section of the University of
Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Rivers State of Nigeria. The principle of Queueing theory was
used by constructing Queueing theory models where average queueing lengths, average number
of patients in the system, average time spent by the Patients on the queue, and the traffic intensity
(utilization coefficient) were all obtained. The work employed M/M/1 approach of the Queueing
theory implying that the system (arriving) Patients followed Poisson arrival rate ( 𝜆 ), an
exponential service distribution rate ( 𝜇) and the hospital was considered as a single server
queueing system that obeyed the disciplinary rule of First- In –First – Out (FIFO) and exponential
service rate. The worked suggested greater need for increase in the staff strength to meet with the
increasing number of patients. For optimal service, the work recommended minimization of the
sum of cost of Patients’ waiting time and cost of service facilities.