Spatial analysis of surgery locations in general practice

Abstract

Consideration is given to some of the theoretical issues involved in applying location allocation analysis to the problem of location of general practitioner's surgeries. Alternative criteria for minimization can be used in the algorithm to represent different planning objectives. The technique is applied to data for two Medical Practice Areas in East Kent. The travel cost for the population, as measured by the procedure, is compared for different types of surgery distributions in the two areas. The technique is proposed as an additional method to that already used to assess medical manpower distribution for planning purposes.