Need and provision of health visiting in the London district health authorities

This paper considers the degree of equity associated with the delivery of health visiting in London, England As is common in the National Health Service, it is argued that an area with a greater need for a service should get greater provision of that service Different indices for measuring needs and resources are discussed In particular, the vital distinction between measures of resource input and output is examined The relationships between provision indices are discussed and then the associations between need and provision are examined It is concluded that the implications for equity are unclear, as the magnitude of the correlations change depending on the choice of indices