ABSTRACT
Management in healthcare - like medicine - is about getting things done to improve the care of patients. The majority of doctors work closely alongside managers, but often doctors do not fully understand what managers actually do, and do not see them as partners in improving patient care. Classical management theories evolved out of military theory and were developed as advanced societies industrialised. While they recognised the need to harmonise human aspects of the organisation, problems were essentially seen as technical. Early theories made individuals fit the requirements of the organisation. New management theories tend to layer new concepts and ideas on top of older counterparts rather than replace them. Services previously designed, delivered and managed by the state have been opened up to competition. In practice, quasi-markets have arisen, in which elements of services are opened to competition from a range of different providers, which may or may not indude commercial organisations.
