This book explains key management principles and integrates them into the context of health care, drawing on practical, relevant information necessary for a practitioner to know when running a practice or health department. Thoroughly updated in line with developments in health service management, this new edition looks at topical issues such as the complexities of quality of patient care and the liabilities associated with them. In an informative, accessible manner, the book covers a broad selection of key issues: the fundamentals of being a manager; organisational and managerial skills; how the health care system operates (in private and public sectors); financial management; and the law and how it affects health services.