ABSTRACT
Ulrich's framework for realising human resource strategy has been highlighted as a prescriptive model for the personnel function in the NHS by Hugh Taylor, its Director of Human Resources, in numerous speeches across the country to health service personnel practitioners. Approaches to strategic change in the NHS have traditionally separated the formulation of strategic change from its implementation, with the former remaining the preserve of executive management. A distinction is necessary between those middle managers that work within specialist functions, such as marketing and human resources, and those who work within operations but also perform the coordinating role. The personnel function in Edwards is called the Human Resources Department and is headed by a Director of Human Resources. The implementation of the strategy is the responsibility of numerous managers within the Trust who have responsibilities for human resources. As R. Klein notes, 'Labour's new NHS represents a reversion to a command and control model'.
