Hybrid professional managers in healthcare: an expanding or thwarted occupational interest?

Abstract

Despite growing interest on the impact of hybrid professional manager roles in public sector organizations, less attention has focused on their population and whether they have advanced as an occupational interest. Using a longitudinal administrative dataset, we explore trends in the growth, characteristics and organizational positions of medical managers in the UK NHS. While they seem to have reinforced their position at the strategic apex of hospitals, especially those with elite status, there is little evidence of their ability to control the jurisdiction of management. This highlights the slow, uneven development of hybrid professional managers as an occupational interest.