The department’s greatest strengths are the ability and commitment of its staff in dealing with a difficult agenda.
The quality of leadership across the department is uneven.
The department has had limited success in marshalling the vested interests in the health sector.
It suffers from a negative media image.
The management of change is clearly problematic.
The department is frequently under siege, trying to firefight much of the time and trying to cope with considerable external pressure.
Staff morale is low.
Some staff are overwhelmed with work while, at the same time, some staff in other areas have little or nothing to do.
There appears to be a reluctance at middle management levels to tackle this problem.
