Objective To develop the capability evaluation system of public health emergency response of county-level hospitals in Xinjiang.

Methods On the basis of literature review, analysis of emergency investigation reports and expert consultation, the framework of emergency capability evaluation system was formulated. Two rounds of consultation among 15 experts were conducted by Delphi method to assign points to the importance of indicators at all levels. The score was adjusted in combination with the authority coefficient of experts.

Results The coordination coefficient of the two rounds of expert consultation was 0.636 and 0.515, respectively, and the authority degree of the experts were 0.785. The emergency capability evaluation index system consists of 9 first-level indexes, 22 second-level indexes and 52 third-level indexes. The Cronbach's α coefficient of the evaluation system was 0.922, indicating that the reliability of the survey scale was good. The first-level indicators and their weights were respectively 0.121 7 of emergency system, 0.120 1 of emergency agency, 0.118 9 of disease warning and monitoring, 0.125 5 of on-site rescue and medical treatment, 0.106 5 of logistics support, 0.114 3 of emergency training and drill, 0.083 5 of public publicity and education, 0.105 7 of crisis communication and psychological support, and 0.104 0 of evaluation and improvement. The system was used to evaluate the emergency response capability of 14 medical institutions in Changji prefecture, according to the classification of capability, showing that 3 institutions ranked as weak (21.43%), 7 institutions as medium (50.00%) and 4 institutions as strong (28.57%).

Conclusions The emergency capability of medical institutions in Changji prefecture needs to be further improved and the evaluation system of public health emergencies established by this research covers all aspects of emergency response capability and has strong applicability.