Faces of Primary Health Centres (PHC) of Bengal Dooars: A Review in Terms of Potential Service Delivery Space Index (PSDSI) and Physical Accessibility Index (PAI)

The purpose of the present study is to capture the efficiencies (inefficiencies) of the existing healthcare system of the Bengal Dooars. To measure such efficiencies (inefficiencies) the study considers the issues related with Primary Health Centres (PHCs). The services rendered by the PHCs are considered as space of service delivery and to measure the issues of efficiencies (inefficiencies) there may be differences between potential service delivered and actual service delivered. Actual service rendered by the PHCs can be measured by their performance, but the potential services rendered means what they can deliver if the resources are used optimally. Technical efficiency in terms of inputs can be a way-out to measure such efficiencies (inefficiencies). The study considers the efficiencies (inefficiencies) of the existing PHCs in one hand, simultaneously the geographical region of this study are categorized into different groups in terms of principal component analysis of villages/blocks physical location data. The study further juxtaposes the conditions of PHCs (basically the values of technical efficiencies) and the blocks/villages physical location data in a matrix. From such matrix, the study concluded with a comment that in which particular vulnerable block (lacking different facilities) the existing PHCs are performing efficiently and vice versa. Such output documents can be used by the policymakers to identify those necessary gaps and they will take necessary improvement-based measures.