ABSTRACT
This chapter specifies the 1948 World Health Organization (WHO) definition of health – 'a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity'. What would this look like from the perspectives of the various layers of healthcare depicted?. The chapter describes that the realities of the foreseeable future are in stark contrast to this assumption, but much of this chapter teaches the substantial deficiencies in the delivery of healthcare that exist today even in wealthy countries. It identifies major challenges to quality in healthcare, with an emphasis on the element of safety and a bias towards ethics as the key for doing the right thing. The chapter suggests that there has been too great an emphasis on knowledge of the technical aspects of healthcare, and too little on the principles by which this technical knowledge should be applied.
