title: Accidents waiting to happen: the contribution of latent conditions to patient safety.
abstract: Poor design of elements in a healthcare system produce the latent conditions which result in patient safety incidents. A better understanding of these elements and specific healthcare design challenges will result in improved patient safety.
authors.affiliation: NHS National Patient Safety Agency, 4-8 Maple Street, London W1T 5HD, UK. colum.lowe@npsa.nhs.uk
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Lowe
mesh_terms: D000056:Accident Prevention; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D019300:Medical Errors / Q000517:prevention & control*; D017146:Models, Organizational; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D012449:Safety / Q000592:standards; D017751:Safety Management / Q000458:organization & administration*; D013597:Systems Analysis; D006113:United Kingdom