Manager bashing is a national sport - but try not to believe your own bad press. Ken Jarrold asks why administrators have become unpopular and argues that it is still worth taking a few knocks

Some advice for those in the dating game: if you want the object of your desire to swoon at the mention of your job, do not be a health service manager. However, if you are content to impress with who you are rather than what you do and want to be useful in a good cause, then it could be the career for you.

Management is not a caring or glamorous profession. In fact, it is not a profession of any kind. However, it is a necessary and - done well - a very useful occupation in which I was proud to spend 36 years.

Manager bashing has long been a popular sport. Just as people of a minority race or nationality are often blamed for social problems by those unwilling to deal with the complexities of migration, so managers are often blamed by those unwilling or unable to grapple with the "wicked issue" of providing comprehensive healthcare in a world of scientific advance, an ageing population, increasing demand and cash-limited budgets.

I joined the NHS in 1969 when we had both just turned 21. As we reach 60, manager bashing has become steadily worse, for four reasons.

First, cash limiting came to public services in the late 1970s. This new discipline reinforced the restrictions of annual budgets and administrators policed the regime.

Second, the 1983 Griffiths report transformed us from administrators who were equal members of management teams with doctors into general managers in charge. It separated us from colleagues.

Third, governments in the late 1980s began to realise they could make the NHS do things, and so the review system and targets were introduced. Managers were forced to interfere in the real work of the NHS.

Fourth, the coming of trusts and the chief executive role brought higher salaries, lease cars - and many more managers.

In a reverse of combat history, red coats have replaced battle fatigues. Managers are visible and often resented by the press, most of public opinion and even many colleagues.

Need for questions

Administrators in early years did not have high status or salary. They were members of a triumvirate of doctor, nurse and administrator, and belonged to a management team. They administered a low -cost system undisciplined by cash limits and were not expected to do a great deal.

When I became a deputy superintendent in 1971, no one expected me to cut waiting times or even know how long patients waited. To do so would have been regarded as a gross invasion of clinical freedom. It is no wonder manager bashing has increased when managers today are high profile and well paid and have to question clinical practice and change process.

Much of this cannot and should not be changed. A modern health system needs effective and appropriately rewarded managers. But the bashing can be limited and managers can increase appreciation of their role, using four simple rules.

First, remember managers exist to support doctors, nurses and everyone else in the main business of treatment and care delivery.

Second, demonstrate your commitment to patient care and your interest in and knowledge of the real work of the NHS.

Any challenge or change must be because it improves patient experience. So third, show by your words and actions that you value and respect the people of the NHS.

Fourth, be one of management guru Robert Greenleaf's "servant leaders": listen, heal, persuade, conceptualise and build community; and show empathy, awareness, foresight, stewardship and commitment to people 's growth.

If I were 21 again, I would still apply to enter the NHS. It has been a privilege and has used all I had to offer. I felt useful in a good cause and valued - worth a little bashing.