ASSESSING THE COVERAGE AREA AND DISTRIBUTION OFHEALTHCARE FACILITIES IN SHEFFIELD, UK USING GEO-SPATIALTECHNOLOGY

Abstract

The paper focuses on accessibility and dispersion of healthcare facilities which are crucial for upholding social stability as well as the protection of fundamental human rights to healthcare. Access to healthcare services means a timely use of available care services to achieve the best health outcomes, and its influence on the overall physical, social, and mental health status. Geographic Information System (GIS) emphasizes the spatial pattern i.e. accessibility while the rest of the dimensions may be seen as non-spatial. The 2021 population census data of Sheffield was obtained from www.nomisweb.co.uk/source/census_2021 was used in this study. The location and coordinates of all the healthcare facilities was also sourced from Google Earth Pro software. Buffering, Erase, Queries and Nearest Neighbor Analysis operations were carried out to determine the coverage area of those healthcare facility deprived areas and also the population deprived of easy utilization and accessibility to those healthcare facilities.