ABSTRACT
Immediate responsibility for the hospital's administration lies in the hands of the Hospital Management Committee, a body comprised of approximately 15–20 people chosen by the regional hospital board to represent the local community. Four or five of the members will be doctors, two or three of these being members of the staffs of the hospitals which comprise the group. The Ministry of Health issue a Handbook for Members of Hospital Management Committees, in which it is stated that one of their responsibilities is to see that 'hospitals are well administered in the best interests of the patients'. The chapter suggests that the extent of the power exercised by Management Committees within a particular hospital is determined by the kind of relationship existing between the medical super- intendent and the chairman of the Hospital Management Committee. It was almost solely in the largest hospitals that superintendents said they did not encourage the Management Committee to play an active part.
