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Over the last two decades there has been global debate about the future of healthcare systems and uncertainty in regard to how health reform should be undertaken. In many countries healthcare reform has concentrated on structural change, cost containment, the introduction of market mechanisms and consumer choice. Despite efforts from policy makers, politicians and communities, healthcare systems are substantially unaltered. In this paper we argue that research and developments in business and human resource management (HRM) have not been transferred to the healthcare sector, despite the widely held belief that “management matters” in delivering quality healthcare outcomes. The key lesson from the HRM literature is that investing in developing and maintaining effective HRM builds a well-motivated and appropriately skilled workforce that makes significant and measurable positive contributions to …