ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on hospital provision from the point of view of the patient. It considers the main factors affecting demand in different areas of a city, including the relationship between hospital choice and accessibility. There are many factors influencing the demand for health care. Morbidity is the main factor and this in turn is dependent on other factors such as age, sex and socio-economic circumstances. The fixed demand hypothesis assumes that the population makes use of health services up to its needs and that it is directed to facilities partly on the basis of their accessibility and partly according to their attractiveness as medical centres. Plainly, one general implication of these results is that hospitals located near the centre would reduce in size, while those in the suburbs would increase in size. The behavioural hypothesis on which the model depends is known as the gravity hypothesis.
