- NHS Trusts
National Health Service Trusts (NHS Trusts) provide many services of the National Health Service in England and
NHS Wales . They are not trusts in the legal sense but are in effect public sector corporations. Each trust is headed by a board consisting of executive andnon-executive director s, and is chaired by a non-executive director. Non-executive directors are recruited by open advertisement.There are several types of Trusts carrying out services for the NHS:
* Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) providingprimary care
* Hospital Trusts, (often referred to as Acute Trusts)
* Foundation Trusts
* Ambulance Trusts [http://www.nhs.uk/England/AuthoritiesTrusts/Ambulance/Default.aspx]
* Care Trusts, providing health and social care services
* Mental Health Services Trusts [http://www.nhs.uk/England/AuthoritiesTrusts/MentalHealth/Default.aspx] .
* Special Health Authorities, organised on an NHS Trust basis, dealing with NHS-wide issuesIn addition there are (after reorganization in
2006 ) ten Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs), organised on a regional basis, which have the responsibility of coordinating the strategies of the health trusts in their regions. These are also headed by boards of executive and non-executive directors.All NHS Trust Boards are required to have an Audit Committee consisting only of non-executive directors, on which the Chairman may not sit. This committee is entrusted not only with supervision of financial
audit , but of systems ofcorporate governance within the Trust.See also
*
List of NHS Trusts References
* [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/geography/downloads/primary_care_10_02.pdf Map showing Primary Care Trusts]
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