Abstract:
Population density and medical service resources are unevenly distributed in the county, and the travel costs incurred by residents in different districts vary greatly when they take different travel modes to seek medical care. To investigate the spatial equity of medical services in a county based on residents' travel characteristics, a Gaussian two-step moving search method is used to calculate the spatial accessibility of medical services at the village, township and county level with multiple travel modes. The local Moran index is used to analyse the accessibility clustering characteristics and identify the accessibility equity from a spatial perspective.The results of the case area analysis show that: Spatial equity in county health care is closely related to differences in the vertical gradient of health care quality. County-level and township/street-level medical service accessibility is high in the county city, the strong combination provides medical services for the county city with high population density, and village/community-level medical services are weak. County-level medical service accessibility is high in the periurban areas, township medical service accessibility is low at the junction of towns, and the village/community-level medical services are uneven. The trend of township health hospitals in the far-urban areas is to make up for the trend of township health hospitals, and townships high accessibility of healthcare services in neighbouring townships, low accessibility of healthcare services at county and township levels at the edges of distant suburban townships, and a major reliance on village-level healthcare services. The results of the study have theoretical and practical significance for the equitable development of medical services in the county.