Spatial access to health services

Abstract

Recent years have seen a renewed interest in a more integrated planning approach for service provision. Previously, government investment to improve access to public services has been prioritised either on the basis of the spatial distribution of services or on the availability of transport services. However, ease of access to a variety of services, such as retail, health and recreational services is increasingly recognised as an integral part of daily life and that by increasing individual level access to services other issues such as social exclusion, physical isolation and deprivation can be ameliorated. Thus, a more systematic approach to measuring accessibility would allow scarce public funding to be targeted more effectively at tackling those problems. As a result, the debate on accessibility now centres on a range of issues including.