Investigating the impact of bank branch closures on access to financial services in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

There is a longstanding policy interest in understanding the impacts of changes in access to public and private services in rural areas. To date much of the empirical analysis concerning changing patterns of accessibility has been predicated on assumptions regarding the mode of transport used to access such facilities. The availability of new and open sources of data, and the increasing sophistication of spatial analytical tools, has enabled alternative transportation modes to be included when investigating the impact of service changes.

Towards an understanding of inequalities in accessing residential and nursing home provision: The role of geographical approaches.

Suggestions of the existence of so-called 'social care deserts' in England in the years leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic drew attention to the potential impact of geographical inequalities on the availability of residential, nursing and domiciliary care. To date, much of this analysis has been conducted at spatially aggregated scales such as that of local authorities or postcode sector. Hidden within such aggregate-level analysis however are geographical differences in the local provision of care services.

Using machine learning tools to investigate factors associated with trends in 'no-shows' in outpatient appointments.

Missed appointments are estimated to cost the UK National Health Service (NHS) approximately £1 billion annually. Research that leads to a fuller understanding of the types of factors influencing spatial and temporal patterns of these so-called "Did-Not-Attends" (DNAs) is therefore timely. This research articulates the results of a study that uses machine learning approaches to investigate whether these factors are consistent across a range of medical specialities.

Using Geographic Information Systems to investigate variations in accessibility to 'extended hours' primary healthcare provision.

There are ongoing policy concerns surrounding the difficulty in obtaining timely appointments to primary healthcare services and the potential impact on, for example, attendance at accident and emergency services and potential health outcomes. Using the case study of potential access to primary healthcare services in Wales, Geographic Information System (GIS)-based tools that permit a consideration of population-to-provider ratios over space are used to examine variations in geographical accessibility to general practitioner (GP) surgeries offering appointment times outside of 'core' operating hours. Correlation analysis is used to explore the association of accessibility scores with potential demand for such services using UK Population Census data.

An exploratory analysis of spatial variations in organ donation registration rates in Wales prior to the implementation of the Human Transplantation (Wales) Act 2013.

Spatial variations in rates of registered organ donors have not been studied in the UK at detailed spatial scales despite some evidence of national and regional differences. By drawing on the findings from the existing literature, this study examines associations between small-area variations in rates of new registrants to the UK organ donor register (ODR) within Wales and key demographic factors. Using map-based visualisations and statistical regression methods, spatial patterns in new registrants to the ODR are identified within Wales, a country which moved to an opt-out system of consent for organ donation following the Human Transplantation (Wales) Act 2013.

Multi-modal two-step floating catchment area analysis of primary health care accessibility.

Two-step floating catchment area (2SFCA) techniques are popular for measuring potential geographical accessibility to health care services. This paper proposes methodological enhancements to increase the sophistication of the 2SFCA methodology by incorporating both public and private transport modes using dedicated network datasets. The proposed model yields separate accessibility scores for each modal group at each demand point to better reflect the differential accessibility levels experienced by each cohort.

Aerosol optical depth as a measure of particulate exposure using imputed censored data, and relationship with childhood asthma hospital admissions for 2004 in athens, Greece.

An understanding of human health implications from atmosphere exposure is a priority in both the geographic and the public health domains. The unique properties of geographic tools for remote sensing of the atmosphere offer a distinct ability to characterize and model aerosols in the urban atmosphere for evaluation of impacts on health. Asthma, as a manifestation of upper respiratory disease prevalence, is a good example of the potential interface of geographic and public health interests.

Distance from home to hospital and thrombolytic utilization for acute ischemic stroke.

Treatment of acute stroke with thrombolytic therapy has been limited because of the narrow treatment window. Distance from home to hospital may affect arrival time and likelihood of receiving thrombolytic therapy for acute stroke. The present study included stroke subjects seen at Barnes Jewish Hospital in 2006-2007, residing in St Louis City/County, who were at home at the time of the stroke (n = 416).

An audit of smoking behaviours among patients attending two general dental practices in South Wales: an awareness-raising exercise for the dental team and patients.

Aims: This audit aimed to quantify the number of smokers attending two general dental practices. It also aimed to establish the demographic characteristics of these smokers in terms of age, gender and deprivation status, and to raise the awareness of practice staff about smoking cessation.

Methods: Data were collected from consecutive patients (aged over 16 years) attending two general dental practices over a period of one month.

An audit of dental general anaesthetic referral from a general dental practice in South Wales.

Aims: The aim of this audit was to quantify the number of patients that received a dental general anaesthetic (DGA) between 1999 and 2007 following referral from a general dental practice. It also aimed to establish the deprivation status of those referred and to investigate further dental treatment pathways of these patients.

Methods: Data were collected from all patient records held by the practice.

The geography of genetics: an analysis of referral patterns to a cancer genetics service.

This study uses a geographical information system (GIS) and statistical analysis to look for patterns in referrals to a British cancer genetics service. In this case, familial cancers are taken to be those that can develop when an individual inherits DNA mutations that cause an increased risk of cancer. Between 1998 and 2006 the Cancer Genetics Service for Wales received nearly 11,000 referrals for patients resident in Wales and it is the service database recording those referrals which is the subject of this secondary analysis.

Positional accuracy and geographic bias of four methods of geocoding in epidemiologic research.

Purpose: We examined the geographic bias of four methods of geocoding addresses using ArcGIS, commercial firm, SAS/GIS, and aerial photography. We compared "point-in-polygon" (ArcGIS, commercial firm, and aerial photography) and the "look-up table" method (SAS/GIS) to allocate addresses to census geography, particularly as it relates to census-based poverty rates.

Methods: We randomly selected 299 addresses of children treated for asthma at an urban emergency department (1999-2001).

Integrating multi-criteria techniques with geographical information systems in waste facility location to enhance public participation.

Despite recent U.K. Government commitments' to encourage public participation in environmental decision making, those exercises conducted to date have been largely confined to 'traditional' modes of participation such as the dissemination of information and in encouraging feedback on proposals through, for example, questionnaires or surveys.

Risk of congenital anomalies after the opening of landfill sites.

Concern that living near a particular landfill site in Wales caused increased risk of births with congenital malformations led us to examine whether residents living close to 24 landfill sites in Wales experienced increased rates of congenital anomalies after the landfills opened compared with before they opened. We carried out a small-area study in which expected rates of congenital anomalies in births to mothers living within 2 km of the sites, before and after opening of the sites, were estimated from a logistic regression model fitted to all births in residents living at least 4 km away from these sites and hence not likely to be subject to contamination from a landfill, adjusting for hospital catchment area, year of birth, sex, maternal age, and socioeconomic deprivation score. We investigated all births from 1983 through 1997 with at least one recorded congenital anomaly [International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9), codes 7400-7599; International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision (ICD-10), codes Q000-Q999].

A pilot study of spatial patterns in referrals to a multicentre cancer genetics service.

Objectives: To analyse spatial and temporal patterns in patients referred to a cancer genetics service in order to monitor service utilization and accessibility.

Methods: Postcodes of patients during a 4-year period were used to examine spatial patterns using a Geographical Information System (GIS). Referral rates were compared visually and statistically to explore yearly variation for administrative areas in Wales.

Findings from a survey on GIS use in the UK National Health Service: organisational challenges and opportunities.

The use of geographical information systems (GIS) in a variety of application areas points to an increasing interest in the spatial aspects of health policies. Despite the fact that most public sector organisations in the United Kingdom (UK) have access to such software tools, there has not been a comprehensive review of take-up within the health sector. In this paper, we report on a recently completed mixed-method research project that has examined the current levels of GIS use in the UK National Health Service, and focus our discussion on health authorities (HAs).

Evaluating the utility and accuracy of a reverse telephone directory to identify the location of survey respondents.

Purpose: To investigate the utility and positional accuracy of a reverse telephone directory to enhance geocoding using self-reported street addresses.

Methods: This cross-sectional study used 2001 self-reported survey data from 2636 participants in three Missouri areas. When available, street addresses were appended to participant telephone numbers using a reverse telephone directory.

Analysing spatial trends in referral patterns to cancer genetics services: a preliminary investigation of regional variations in Wales.

This paper discusses spatial trends in referral patterns to a cancer genetics service. It presents a literature review outlining the paucity of existing research, a preliminary analysis at the Unitary Authority level in Wales and advances a programme of further research to be conducted at a more detailed spatial level. The preliminary analysis shows a weak negative relationship between referral rates from primary care and social deprivation by Unitary Authority (Spearman rank correlation coefficient, sigma = -0.

Morbidity, deprivation and drug prescribing: factors affecting variations in prescribing between doctors' practices.

Analyses are reported of the prescribing quality and behaviour of 131 doctors' practices in a South Wales health authority during the first quarter of 1997. Prescribing of specific groups of drugs are examined, namely antidepressants; bronchodilators and inhaled corticosteroids for treating asthma; and oral antidiabetics and insulin for diabetes. It is hypothesised that the volumes and costs of prescriptions are determined by the characteristics of both doctors/practices (number and age of doctors; training and fundholding status of practices; single-handed practices and doctors per patient) and their patients (age; gender; ethnicity; deprivation).

The use of geographical information systems in examining variations in sociodemographic profiles of dental practice catchments: a case study of a Swansea practice.

Aim: The aim of this paper is to use a case study approach to illustrate the potential for using geographical information systems (GIS) to examine the provision of dental services in the UK. A major benefit of using GIS to examine sociodemographic profiles of patients on a dental register is to inform policy makers.

Method: We illustrate the advantages of such an approach by using a postcoded list of registered patients for a dental practice in Swansea.