A computer simulation of the admissions and scheduling system at St. Paul’s hospital

In this work, the admissions and scheduling system at St. Paul's Hospital was examined by means of modelling and computer simulation. The Hospital is an acute-care facility with very high occupancy and a policy of admitting all of the emergency patients who require hospitalization. It now faces the problem of providing space for these patients without seriously disrupting scheduled admissions. After investigation of the literature, it was decided to model the Hospital's admissions and scheduling system and use computer simulation to investigate its behaviour. Patients, operating rooms, and bed areas were classified by "hospital service". A GPSS simulation model which uses empirical data and a one-day time unit was developed. The model was verified and validated. Several experiments were performed to suggest different methods to regulate occupancy in the various hospital areas, and to alleviate surgical slate disruptions, under existing or hypothetical arrival patterns for patients. These experiments were only a sample of those for which the model may be used. Suggestions for extensions of this project are included. In conclusion, two points are made: first, there are several contrasts between formal hospital policy and actual practice as revealed by the data; second, it appears that simulation can be useful in a hospital context.Science, Faculty ofStatistics, Department ofGraduat