Management, budgeting and the use of resources--a private sector view

This very brief talk can only scratch at the surface of the way in which we approach these matters within AMI. I would remind you that we are very small in comparison with the national health service, and what is effective for us, may not be effective for you. Our philosophy is to give the manager responsibility, along with authority to act, to control the direction of the organisation centrally, but to delegate downwards the detailed day to day decision making, to measure managerial performance by results, and to emphasise above all the quality of the service we provide to our patients. Our various management structures are pyramid-shaped and identify a responsible leader at each level of the organisation. Our budgeting process enables us to set our financial plans, and our financial control process enables us to measure progress against those plans. Finally, I referred to the vitally important part which our people play translating that management philosophy and those goals and objectives into reality and our efforts to equip those people through training programmes to meet the heavy demands which we place upon them. In summary, we select the right person, train him, provide him with the necessary resources, motivate him and leave him alone to do the job. Whether any of this is of relevance to you in the national health service is for you to judge. My suspicion is that if there is relevance, it is to do with attitudes and expectations and demands and performance, rather than simply in structures and systems and organisational charts.