When moving house, people often consider local schools, and forget about access to healthcare. This is a mistake.
Where is the local hospital? Regional hospital? GP? Dentist? Are they any good?
In other words .. what are medical consequences of living (geographically) between centres of healthcare? This is the case if you live in ‘border areas’ (especially rural) between geographical entities (e.g. counties, towns or regions).
1. Delayed diagnosis and treatment: Without nearby healthcare facilities, you are vulnerable to delayed diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions, which can lead to worsening of symptoms, increased morbidity, and mortality.
Why? This is partly because your health information will be fragmented, and recorded (partially) on multiple poor computer systems – GP, pharmacy, 2-3 different hospitals, i.e.
“Rule No 1. NHS computers are poor and do not link up”
2. Increased risk of medical emergencies: Remote or rural areas often have limited access to emergency medical services, which can increase the risk of adverse outcomes in the event of a medical emergency.
3. Limited access to specialist care: Living between healthcare centres can make it difficult to access specialist care, such as consultations with specialists or specialised treatment services.
Also there may be excessive travelling difficulties if you need regular trips, e.g. for face-to-face outpatient appointments, dialysis or chemotherapy.
4. Poor management of chronic conditions: Without easy access to healthcare services, individuals with chronic conditions may experience poor management of their condition, leading to increased complications and decreased quality of life.
This could partly be due to community based nurses not visiting you, or arguing with the team in the ‘next’ area, whose responsibility it is to look after you.
5. Mental health concerns: Social isolation, lack of access to mental health services, and limited support networks can contribute to increased rates of depression, anxiety, and other mental health concerns.
6. Small things: it may not be walking distance to a pharmacy. This could reduce your ability to resupply tablets or get blood tests, for example.
Limited geographical access to healthcare services can result in reduced health outcomes, including increased rates of hospitalisation, morbidity, and mortality.
Top Tip. Get an Uber.
Dangers of rural healthcare (Baird, 2006)
