An evaluation of middle management skills in a private healthcare service in the Western Cape Province of South Africa

The objectives of this study were to evaluate middle management skills in a healthcare and identify which skills the managers deemed to be important and also assess the self efficacy of the mangers in these skills. The study found that general managerial skills such as interpersonal relationships, patient management, quality management, leadership and human resources management were considered to be important by the middle managers. Furthermore, there is a skills deficit in financial management, niche marketing and risk management. It is concluded that although most hospital jobs are technical and specialized, it is important for those professionals that aspire to move into managerial positions to acquire managerial skills.