Jamie Sharpley is right (Letters, 27 August), NHS managers deserve a strong body which pretty well every manager belongs to. Sadly, the Institute of Health Services Management is not that body.

If I'm looking for someone to be the voice of the NHS manager, I generally find myself more comfortable with what the NHS Confederation is saying than the IHSM.

If I want to be part of 'achieving the highest standards in management', I can go to the IHSM conference - I just pay a bit more than a member.

But if I want someone to negotiate the terms and conditions of NHS managers locally and nationally, the IHSM is as inadequate as the several trade unions that claim to be able to represent managers.

A substantial part of the IHSM's problem is that so

few managers belong to it, but I'm not about to join on the basis that it should be the organisation that represents me.

Matt Tee

Head of public relations

Guy's & St Thomas' Hospital trust

London SE1