Mind you, the best example of the bean counter mentality was told to me by a friend of ours who was, at the time, the Chief Nursing Officer for the Portsmouth hospitals. One management team meeting the treasurer was on holiday and his deputy stood in. He presented his brilliant idea for reducing nursing costs. There was, he explained to the incredulous, overlaps between nursing shifts and the nurses took staggered meal breaks. If the overlaps were done away with, and all nurses took their breaks at the same time considerable savings could be achieved. I would love to have been in that room when Bronwyn, our friend, went to work on him! I don't know how long the guy had been in post, but the thought that a senior finance officer could come up with such stupidity makes me tremble!
Mike