Overview
A key barrier to improved health and well-being is access to health services. Some ten per cent of hospital outpatient appointments are currently missed and it is speculated that many of these cancellations are related to transport problems. Moreover it is widely acknowledged that current provision of health care transport is inefficient. The aim of the project is to compare the existing provision of transport facilities with needs and develop a revised model of transport provision studying the potential for on-line communications and demand-responsive transport. The project will be centred on a case study of the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals. Following a review of existing literature especially commissioned survey will be undertaken to inform a new model for health care transport provision to the hospitals.
The objectives of the research are to map the existing transport facilities supported by public agencies and the voluntary sector and ascertain their costs, to map the transport services needed to enable people to access health care facilities, to compare the existing provision with transport needs and establish revised models for the provision of transport to improve access.