ABSTRACT
THE PAST TWO CHAPTERS have examined health in modern Britain. The discussion has considered how present health status has evolved over time and has examined some of the factors influencing health today. It was emphasised that much of the discussion reflected a rather
simplistic notion of health; it focused predominantly on disease and death. The introduction to this book represented this perspective as biomedical and not holistic. In this chapter attention turns to health care and an examination of the reasons why the health care system which dominates in modern Britain is characterised by a biomedical view of health.
