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approach. The lack of consultation with unions on the nature and content of outsourcing, perhaps due to the sheer sensitivity and complex accounting issues related to it, meant that the rhetoric of improving employee and union involvement through the adoption of partnership was exposed as being contradictory. The manner in which PFI was introduced undermined and delayed the negotiations on partnership, as the unions were forced to be assertive in their demands for information on the PFI initiative. Not only did dealing with PFI demand a lot of institutional attention and resources, it also raised a series of anomalies regarding the style of new managerialism within the NHS and the ongoing impact of marketisation.

Thirdly, this issue of involvement and transparency also emerged at the workplace level itself. Unions were aware that one of the main problems within the Trust was the attitude of lower tiers of management. Line management was seen as antipathetic towards employee involvement. For example, the implementation of an agreement on employee involvement and transparency at every level of the Trust - signed by the Trust's management and unions - was delayed due to the perceived need to train front line management in such matters. Union representatives argued that any developments related to involvement would have to be 'rolled out' and implemented through training programmes for employees and their managers that also involved trade unionists in the role of trainers. The point of reference used by trade unionists in this regard was a more positive experience with a previous agreement aimed at training front line management in health and safety issues. This concern with front line management reflected the belief that the Trust, whilst maintaining its broad corpus of traditional union involvement mechanisms, was increasingly fragmented in departmental terms. The management of these departments and areas was operating in increasingly idiosyncratic ways as a consequence of line managers having to deal with shortages in resources, problems of labour turnover, and centrally imposed service delivery measurement systems. Such issues were exacerbated by the fact that many recently promoted line managers were still having to perform their traditional duties. Hence, they were not able to develop a more proactive and inclusivist approach to employee involvement. The problems of 'gaps' in the unions' access to information, a culture of limited transparency and an increasing pressure upon staff and management, meant that a consistent basis for the development of partnership did not exist. This was the case despite the more developed system of union representation pertaining in the NHS.

Discussion
Our survey findings reveal some broad support for the principles of partnership. On issues such as the opportunity for workplace representatives to express their members' views, the need for confidentiality (over business affairs) and the belief in non-adversarial industrial relations, the paper finds significant trade union support. This degree of support is principally focused around the ideological aspirations of partnership. Given the pluralistic concerns underpinning the partnership agenda this should, obviously, come as no surprise. Yet, it is also suggestive of something more. The findings reveal that there is no inherent antagonism amongst workplace representatives to the b