Q.34. How do we Output Timeliness?

An aspect of output quality is timeliness, which can be looked at from the following angles:

· The length of time it takes to perform certain key tasks or to produce certain outputs. For example:

q The length of time taken or the length of queue to obtain treatment is an important indicator of timeliness for the Outpatient Services Activity of the Ministry of Health.

q Indicators of timeliness for a training institution can include the percentage of courses conducted as scheduled.

· Whether clients receive the services in a timely manner. For example, are weather forecasts provided to the public in time for them to benefit from the information?

Usually, most timeliness indicators would focus on the variance from a specified standard time to perform a particular task. For example, to gauge the level of performance, the average time taken to obtain medical treatment or the average number of persons in a queue at a counter would have to be compared to a benchmark set of indicators.

Ministry of Planning

2 October 2003