Towards better practice management: a national survey of Scottish general practice management.

Surveys a 50 per cent sample of Scottish practices (stratified by health board area), concerning whether they had a practice manager and who had responsibility for practice management tasks. The overall response rate was 73 per cent, with 63 per cent of responding practices employed a practice manager. Reports the findings from practices employing a manager, and reveals marked variations in levels of managers pay and responsibility. The development of practice management structures varied with only 85 per cent of practices holding regular practice management meetings. The results suggest that practices which previously coped without a manager have recognized the need for one as the complexity of practice administration increases and that the traditional career path of managers involving internal promotion is changing.