ABSTRACT
The research took place over a 10-month period and focused on two wards at Woodlands District General Hospital: Treetops, a thirty-threebedded surgical ward, and Fernlea, a thirty-four-bedded medical unit. Ethnographic methods were employed. The data comprise fieldnotes and audio-tape recordings derived from participant observation in the study site (including 12 weeks, intensive observation on each ward); tape-recorded semi-structured interviews with a sample of nurses, doctors, auxiliaries, health care assistants and clinical managers, and the analysis of documentary evidence.
