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Reports a postal survey of NHS staff in six Districts in the North Western Region. There were 3,525 replies, from staff in five main occupational groups, with clear social gradients in respect of health status, smoking and exercise, but a more complex picture in respect of diet, stress and uptake of preventative services. There were no significant differences in respect of alchohol consumption. Previous research showed social class differences in mortality of NHS staff; this study documents aspects of lifestyle consistent with that. Although the importance of socio‐economic circumstances and social support should not be disregarded, the survey results emphasize the need for NHS managers to reduce the inequality in health experienced by NHS staff, working with ancillary staff as a priority.

Levels of work‐related stress were examined in 1,176 employees from the major occupational groups of one large health authority in the UK as a precursor to devising stress management strategies. The six occupational groups (administrative and clerical staff, ancillary personnel, professions allied to medicine, doctors and ward‐and community‐based nurses) were compared and the results were used as a basis for suggesting opportunities for management to initiate a range of stress management interventions. The framework suggested by Cox was used, which suggests that the target for intervention can be either the individual or organization and that there are three levels: prevention; tackling stressors at work; and helping individuals cope with problems at work. While stress was found to be a significant problem across all occupational groups in the study and their experience of stress has many similarities, the stress management solutions need to be tailored to the needs of each occupational group.

In 1990, 682 staff (61 per cent response without reminder) employed by 17 districts in the North Western Health Authority were surveyed to discover both their awareness of the existence of the Occupational Health Service and other relevant agencies, and their views about the principal roles of this service. There were replies from staff in six main occupational groups. The results showed clearly that most employees are aware of the existence of the service as a compulsorily provided general practice, while a small group of managers thought of it as a management tool to assist them in controlling their workforce. There was some significant occupational variation which pointed to the same direction – the strong curative image the service has among its clients. The most important conclusion derived from this research is the urgent need to expand NHS staff expectations towards more preventive activities the Occupational Health Service might and should provide.

This part of the report (Part 1 is published in the International Journal of Educational Management, Vol. 5 No. 3, 1991) is a description of each day of the study visit with appropriate comments and impressions. From this, practices used in Denmark which could be of potential benefit in the UK are discussed; and also issues worthy of further study. The study visit raised pertinent questions on UK philosophy on teaching in general and teaching of the disabled; the rights of the disabled; and the responsibility for the provision of education.

In the past conflicting messages about food and nutrition in the popular media have confused the general public. To be able to evaluate the information that has been presented calls for some training in nutrition, but the average man and woman in the street has not had this advantage. It is easy to understand how they have become confused. The National Advisory Committee on Nutrition Education set out to provide ‘clear and simple messages … and unambiguous advice that could be put into practice by the public’ to help those engaged in nutrition education. In order to implement the NACNE guidelines, it is helpful to know more about the nutritional beliefs of the general public. Judith Woodward, BSc, of the School of Science and Society, University of Bradford, has been investigating the extent of confusion and misconception among ordinary consumers who have no special access to definitive nutritional information. Here, she presents some of her findings on

Draws on the findings of a major research project funded by the New South Wales Department of School Education in Australia which sought to examine the school‐community interface and communication in government comprehensive high schools in that state. Data were drawn initially from nine schools in Western Sydney with three of these schools being the subject of in‐depth follow‐up study. These studies revealed the significant role played by senior school executives, particularly the principal, in the development of communication methods in schools and their influence on school culture and climate. Examines decision making and communication methods in the three schools within the context of each school′s environment and draws implications for school leadership, staff morale, and staff, student and community attitudes. A key finding is that there is no “recipe” for success as a principal. Rather, a contingency approach is advocated whereby individual principals adopt a personal position across a range of important considerations, these positions being dependent on contextual and personal factors. The case studies suggest what these positions could be.

Reforms of the NHS’s healthcare structure have placed additional pressure on all aspects of hospital management. Evaluation of the effects of these reforms is difficult without more information on current conditions. Hospital catering in acute care trusts has little contemporary background research available. With this in mind, a survey of all the acute care NHS trusts within the eight regions in England was undertaken to investigate the hospital meal service process. A mailed questionnaire asked for the meal production system, food service method and food delivery personnel used by each trust, and a copy of a weekly menu. Results, from an 80.7 per cent response rate, indicate that most trusts use batch cooking to prepare their meals, and plated meal service to deliver the food to the wards. Almost 75 per cent of the trusts use nurses, at least in part, to serve food. English foodstuffs dominate the menus. Most of the trusts have moved towards meeting the goals set by the Patients’ Charter and other NHS recommendations.

The concept of the primary health‐care team involving an increasingly diverse range of health care professionals is widely recognized as central to the pursuit of a primary care‐led health service in the UK. Although GPs are formally recognized as the team leaders, there is little by way of policy prescription as to how team roles and relationships should be developed, or evidence as to how their roles have in fact evolved. Thus the notion of the primary health‐care team while commonly employed, is in reality lacking definition with the current contribution of practice managers to the operation of this team being poorly understood. Focusing on the career backgrounds of practice managers, their range of responsibilities, and their involvement in innovation in general practice, presents a preliminary account of a chief scientist office‐funded project examining the role being played by practice managers in primary health‐care innovation. More specifically, utilizing data gained from the ongoing study, contextualizes the role played by practice managers in the primary health‐care team. By exploring the business environment surrounding the NHS general practice, the research seeks to understand the evolving world of the practice manager. Drawing on questionnaire data, reinforced by qualitative data from the current interview phase, describes the role played by practice managers in differing practice contexts. This facilitates a discussion of a set of ideal type general practice organizational and managerial structures. Discusses the relationships and skills required by practice managers in each of these organizational types with reference to data gathered to date in the research.

This article provides a brief description of and early conclusions from the first Australian experiences with Organization Development (O.D.) in schools. Early feedback is felt to be important if there is not to be hasty adoption of a seemingly successful North American (and originally industrial) administrative innovation without careful analysis of the techniques in the Australian context. Aspects of the mutual adaptation that will be required between O.D. and Australian schools, if the innovation's promised potential is to be realised, are highlighted.

The early 1990s saw the emergence of automated self‐service issue units in the UK. Since then we have seen the introduction of second and third generation systems, the launch of self‐return facilities and their adoption for use in both public and academic libraries. This paper re‐examines the position of self‐issue and return towards the end of the decade and century based on the literature and research conducted by Loughborough University. It describes the main self‐issue/return systems available, lists the benefits and opportunities of implementing them and discusses considerations such as objectives, costs, security, location of equipment, functionality and design of systems, and the effect self‐issue/return has on users and staff.