[Managing position of the surgery executive]

Recent legislation on health service has once again made the head of the department of surgery aware of his managing responsibilities. Cost saving will be possible in the areas of laboratory and high-tech diagnoses, surgery materials, storage of supplies, and administration of drugs. Since 70% of hospital costs are personnel costs, a substantial reduction in the hospital budget can only be obtained by reducing staff. In planning for the long term, we will be obliged to discuss "total quality management", which demands continuous improvement of the quality of our management and our patient treatment.