Spatial accessibility to emergency care in Sichuan province in China

Timely access to emergency care, which still remains insufficient in China, can substantially improve overall health outcomes. A better understanding of emergency care from the perspective of spatial accessibility is essential for future healthcare planning. This study provides a brief introduction to the emergency medical service system of China assessing the spatial accessibility of emergency care and associated social-economic characteristics in Sichuan province. Based on demographic and hospital administrative data in 2018, we measured the spatial accessibility employing the nearest-neighbour method and identified associated social-economic factors by the conventional Ordinary Least Square (OLS) approach. Travel time analysis revealed a relatively high level of overall spatial accessibility to emergency care in Sichuan. However, substantial geographical disparity in accessibility could nevertheless be observed throughout the province, with the eastern area presenting much better accessibility than the western area. Regression results suggested that county-level discrepancies with respect to accessibility could be significantly attributed to variance in local economic development, urbanization level and administrative area. These findings indicate that long-term efforts need to be made by the central government in China optimizing allocation of healthcare resources, as well as fortifying financial support and providing preferential policies for economically disadvantaged regions.