Human resource management in hospitals: a contested arena for jurisdiction.

During the past 10 years, financial pressures on health service providers have led to a quest for more efficient service delivery and many consequential changes to the organisation and utilisation of staff. This study investigated the organisational responses to such pressures by four major South Australian hospitals and the level of involvement of hospital human resource staff in the staffing issues associated with strategic planning. With one exception, there was little contribution from qualified human resource professionals to staffing decisions involving medical and nursing personnel and little value was placed on their potential input by other professional groups. If, as suggested by writers on strategic human resource management, human resource practice is moving toward a more strategic approach, then there is a large credibility gap for human resource staff to overcome within the South Australian health service.