Middle managers in healthcare organisations play a vital role in an organisation’s success. In this regard, the skills required for middle managers in healthcare organisations to effectively and competently perform their management roles need to be investigated. This study contributes to existing knowledge on middle management skills required in current private healthcare organisations. The potential beneficiaries are private healthcare organisations who strive to remain competitive in this growing industry. This study’s aims were to evaluate the management skills of the middle managers at the Private Healthcare Services (PHS). The study analysed the management skills considered relevant to the PHS. The study further examined how competent the middle managers were with the management skills, and if they found the skills to be of relevance to the PHS. A mixed research design that involved quantitative and qualitative research methods were used in the study. In the quantitative phase, the sample group consisted of thirty middle managers at the PHS, and an online Survey Monkey linked questionnaire was sent to these middle managers in administrative, clinical and technical areas of the organisation. In the qualitative phase an interview survey was sent online specifically to five unit business middle managers at PHS, with the intention to gain more insight on responses from the qualitative findings. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. The results revealed that the middle managers considered all management skills analysed as essential for the performance of their tasks in a healthcare setting. Quality management skill was identified as the most relevant skill. A skills gap in marketing and risk management skills was identified. However, these skills were also ranked as least relevant by the middle managers at the PHS. Further research is required to determine the relevance of these middle management skills for the PHS. This will assist the PHS to determine the types of training programs that need to be implemented.

Middle managers in healthcare organisations play a vital role in an organisation’s success. In this regard, the skills required for middle managers in healthcare organisations to effectively and competently perform their management roles need to be investigated. This study contributes to existing...