Feasibility of mobile provision of health services: a study of child monitoring centres in The Netherlands

In the Netherlands children up to the age of 4 years are regularly monitored. Several demographic and economic developments have led to the idea of using mobile child monitoring centres. Mobile units are expected to be flexible, effective and efficient but little information is available about the implications for the organization, the clients and other third parties involved. This paper outlines an approach for assessing the feasibility of mobile child monitoring centres. The focus is on the area Midden-Gelderland in the Netherlands and the implications of alternative options are compared on the basis of feasibility criteria or performance measures. The implementation of mobile units for child monitoring appears to be feasible with respect to most performance measures but there are also disadvantages. The approach taken proved to be a valuable exercise since it provided detailed information on all implications. It was decided that the mobile units would not be purchased but that some child monitoring centres could be closed without replacing them.