An exploration of the travelling-time implications in the siting of specialist units--a case study

This paper describes a case study in which travelling-time implications for siting health-care facilities were examined for one of the health-care regions in the UK. The results of the study were produced to assist a planning consortium with a specific problem of siting a regional specialty. The accessibility of the sites was measured in terms of travelling-time distributions for the population of the county of Essex, a rural part of the North-East Thames Regional Health Authority. The results show that the optimal selection of site(s) in Essex is dependent on the service provided by centres outside Essex and the relative importance of short and long travelling-times.