ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the context in which healthcare is delivered and some of the factors which create hazards and contribute to risk. Much dysfunction in healthcare occurs because of problems at the interfaces between the larger system and organizations, between organizations and individuals, between different sectors of the health service and between different professional groups within hospitals. The chapter discusses factors which adversely affect system design and function and those which adversely affect the performance and behaviour of the professionals who work in the system. These factors act in concert to reduce the functionality of the health system. The story of the evolution of healthcare is primarily one of impressive achievements which have improved the condition of mankind. In retail pharmacies and on hospital wards, they increasingly play a valuable role at the interface of healthcare with patients, checking the prescription and administration of drugs.
