Purpose – The purpose of this study is to explore non‐principals’ working patterns and attitudes to work. Design/methodology/approach – The article is based on data provided by a questionnaire survey. Findings – Gender division was apparent among the non‐principals. Males were more...

Purpose – This qualitative study aims to examine key stakeholders' perspectives of primary care group/trust prescribing strategies. Within the context of general practice prescribing, the paper also debates the wider issue of whether GPs' prescribing autonomy is under threat from managerial...

Purpose – The healthcare sector faces new financial and managerial accountability demands, along with their clinical accountability. Various studies show strong opposition by clinicians to new accountability tools, new structures and new ways of working. Less attention is paid to the...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate how general practitioners’ (GPs) decisions about discontinuation of medication are influenced by their institutional context. Design/methodology/approach – In total, 24 GPs were interviewed, three practices were observed and documents...

Purpose – The primary care sector is experiencing considerable change. How change and uncertainty are accommodated by the professional identity of medicine has not been examined. The purpose of this paper is to address the youth healthcare as an exemplar as this field is often a source of...

Purpose Policy makers are applying market-inspired competition and financial incentives to drive efficiency in healthcare. However, a lack of knowledge exists about the process whereby incentives are filtered through organizations to influence staff motivation, and the key role of managers is...