ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the changing roles, behaviours and experiences of managers in an acute trust, which we will refer to as 'Millford Foundation Trust'. It examines how managers work or the strategies and tactics they employ their behaviours. Situated in a leafy but socially mixed suburb of Milltown, Millford Foundation Trust could be accessed through a myriad of roads, walkways, gateways and doorways, some open to the public and others restricted to hospital staff, giving the impression that it was physically, as well as organizationally, embedded in the local community. The inclusion in the catchment area of urban and rural, affluent and deprived areas meant that Millford served the needs of a diverse population in both geographical and social terms. In return for these freedoms, the trust had to maintain levels of patient care and medical outcomes in order to ensure continued funding and avoid financial penalties.
