Characteristics of Child Health Care Services of Specialist Clinics in Primary Health Care Institutes in Guilin

Background: Child health care is a critical part of the national primary health care services in China. We sought to describe the characteristics of child health care services of specialist clinics in primary health care institutes in Guilin. Methods: We enrolled 148 primary health care institutes with qualification of child health care services in Guilin in 2019, of which, 12 from community health service centers, 136 from township hospitals. We conducted a cross-sectional health agency survey using quantitative and qualitative methods, and obtained data on the institute’s name, address, contact information, and characteristics of child health care services of specialist clinics (including quantity, service type, auxiliary equipment). We used Fisher's exact test to examine the differences in characteristics between community health service centers group and township hospitals group. Results: We found that seven different child specialized outpatient clinics were set up in these primary health care institutes, there existed imbalance in these specialist clinics of child health care services, some were underserved; and there were gaps between urban and rural areas; and gaps between professional pediatric clinics/specialist clinics in general hospitals and child specialist clinics in primary health care institutes; scope of some specialties was obscured, the child health services type may change in some specialties. Conclusion: Our findings may aid in more comprehensive studies of future primary health care systems, including training, services, policy-making, funding investment.