MURAL - Maynooth University Research Archive Library



    Health, Place and Hanly: modelling accessibility to hospitals in Ireland


    Foley, Ronan (2006) Health, Place and Hanly: modelling accessibility to hospitals in Ireland. Irish Geography, 39 (1). pp. 52-68. ISSN 0075-0778

    [img]
    Preview
    Download (1MB) | Preview


    Share your research

    Twitter Facebook LinkedIn GooglePlus Email more...



    Add this article to your Mendeley library


    Abstract

    The Irish Government is currently engaged in considerations about a proposed reorganisation of acute hospital services. The proposals in the 'Hanly' Report recommend the creation of new classifications of Major, General and Local Hospitals. This paper looked at how these proposals might affect geographical accessibility to Irish acute hospitals and modelled it within a GIS framework. Spatial data in the form of hospital location and size, road network and demographic distribution of over 65 's were drawn together within the GIS. A weighted accessibility formula was applied to produce a measure of accessibility called a Spatial Accessibility Measure based on travel time, hospital size and population-weighting. This measures was then applied to produce three scenarios modelled on; a) the existing configuration of services, b) a partial roll-out and c) a full roll-out of the proposed changes in the 'Hanly' Report. The scenarios identified those parts of the country, which were potentially likely to have increased/decreased accessibility to acute hospital services based on the different scenarios. Residents in the central and western parts of the country were shown to be most vulnerable, while the impacts of a full roll-out of Hanly suggests additional potential impacts on some suburban hospitals in the Greater Dublin area. The work provides a valuable and previously underdeveloped set of policy-informed spatial outcomes which can be adjusted if or when more beds are introduced into the Irish health care system in the next five to ten years.

    Item Type: Article
    Keywords: healthcare; accessibility; service planning; GIS; policy;
    Academic Unit: Faculty of Social Sciences > Geography
    Item ID: 8797
    Depositing User: Dr. Ronan Foley
    Date Deposited: 12 Sep 2017 09:09
    Journal or Publication Title: Irish Geography
    Publisher: Geographical Society of Ireland
    Refereed: Yes
    URI:
    Use Licence: This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

    Repository Staff Only(login required)

    View Item Item control page

    Downloads

    Downloads per month over past year

    Origin of downloads