Hospital doctors faced with an identity crisis

The traditional character of hospital doctors is founded on clinical excellence and scientific reputation, especially in teaching hospitals. However, because of mounting pressure from the Department of Health, hospitals are being encouraged to adopt corporate management techniques, especially following the implementation of a new system of finance linked to each medical procedure, and the reform of hospital governance directed and managed by doctors and health executives. As a result, tension exists between the professional identities of doctors and the identities of these who work in the administrative department who have to reach goals which they have been set without exceeding their allocated budgets. Numerous junior hospital doctors are struggling to find their place in this new setting and complain of a lack of professional recognition.