Doctors, managers and politicians.
Doctors and politicians have rarely seen eye to eye on what a health service should provide and how it should be managed. The introduction of general management in 1984, while initially successful, created new fault-lines between doctors, managers and politicians that were compounded by a succession of NHS reorganisations. These changes brought politics too close to front-line management, highlighted the incompatibility of managerially determined targets with the essence of professional practice, and have led to the development of a management agenda disconnected from healthcare. Remedies are suggested here that reflect the particular roles and contributions of each group that could restore a sense of shared purpose in the running of the NHS.
Wessex Deanery, Highcroft, Winchester. graham.winyard@wessexdeanery.nhs.uk
Graham
G
Winyard
D006801:Humans; D009313:National Health Programs / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010820:Physicians / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000458:organization & administration; D006113:United Kingdom