What is the line manager's role in terms of Human Resources Management (HRM)? A new contribution calls for the re-conceptualisation of HRM as signals that management send to employees rather than systems, practices, or bundles. That contribution argues that HR professionals operate at a conceptual level and also in terms of more specific practices level. We examine a large hospital and suggest that the The Hospital executives disseminate mixed signals. In the decentralised HR environment it is the growing role of the ward (line) manager as an HR practitioner to interpret, diffuse and convey such signals to the front-line employees. This role leads to a commitment of the staff to the ward and the ward manager - the ward-based employee relationship may include much clearer and stronger signals than are apparent in the relationship employees have with The Hospital more broadly, bearing in mind that the latter seems to convey 'mixed signals'.