Mapping the factors contributing to long waiting times and interventions to reduce waiting times within primary health care facilities in South Africa: a scoping review protocol

Globally, patient waiting time has been identified as a major characteristics of a functional health system. In South Africa, 83% of the general population must visit the PHC facilities, which is burdened by long waiting times, overcrowding, staff shortages, poor quality of care, ineffective appointment arrangements, and lack of medication. Patients may tend to associate waiting time with poor service quality, especially if the wait is long. PHC facilities often struggle to reduce patient waiting times due to inadequate infrastructure, lack of skilled staff, lack of availability of medicine and equipment and poor documentation of data. This research is aimed mapping evidence on the health system interventions in improving quality of care and reducing waiting times in the outpatient department within PHC facilities.