Healthcare is about people – those receiving care and their carers and the professionals providing the care. Healthcare is about resources – the financial and other resources required for care provision. This book discusses managing the medical equipment, systems and devices that form much of healthcare technology and which is vital for the effective and efficient provision of care.

The book has been written collectively by the five authors, led by Francis Hegarty. We have all contributed to all parts of it with substantial internal reviewing. We also asked various colleagues to peer-review some sections or chapters and have been greatly encouraged and assisted by the feedback they provided. We acknowledge and are very grateful for this input.

We have included a large number of case studies in the book. These are ‘stories to illustrate a point’ and are linked to relevant discussions in the main text. They are all based on real situations but are not intended to be a complete description of actual events. Some poetic licence has been used to clarify or amplify the intended learning. You might describe them as 'parables'.