ABSTRACT
In the smaller practices, the practice manager tends, although not always, to have been promoted from within. Some practice managers 'do the books', yet are unaware of the doctors' drawings and would certainly not be present at the partners' meetings with their accountant. The practice manager role also tends to remain embedded in other roles such as those of secretary or senior receptionist. Some General practitioners (GPs) are living with the results of their own lack of recruitment skills, to the detriment of themselves, the practice manager and the practice. There is also a need for a national strategy for practice management development that will accommodate the different needs of practice managers and GPs. 'Practice management' remains as yet a 'gendered' occupation. One woman doctor, however, was delegating more to her practice manager inside the practice as she attempted to develop outside it a group of GPs who would influence local purchasing.
