Structure
There are seven Local Health Boards (LHBs) in Wales and three national NHS Trusts. Each LHB is responsible for delivering all NHS healthcare services within a geographical area. Three NHS Trusts, called 'all-Wales trusts', operate nationwide agencies and services. These are: the Welsh Ambulance Service, Velindre NHS Trust (providing a range of specialist services at local, regional and All Wales levels, including the Welsh Blood Service and specialist cancer services), and Public Health Wales.
The current Health Boards were created on 1 October 2009 following a reorganisation of NHS Wales that saw the abolition of 22 Local Health Boards (LHBs) and seven NHS Trusts that had existed since 2003. Since the reorganisation Health Boards are responsible for delivering all NHS services, rather than the two-tiered Trust and LHB system that existed previously.
Wales' largest teaching hospital, the University Hospital of Wales based in Cardiff is the largest hospital outside London and third largest in the United Kingdom.
Read more about this topic: NHS Wales
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