5th July 2013 Congratulations to the NHS - 65 years old and what a fantastic institution

A Hospital is a health care facility that provides treatment for patients by specialised staff and equipment. The word Hospital originated from "places of hospitality", and this meaning is still preserved in the names of some facilities such as the Royal Hospital Chelsea, established in 1681 as a retirement and nursing home for veteran soldiers.

There are many different types of Hospitals;

• Hospitals that don't accept Accident and Emergency patients
• Hospitals that specialise in specific diseases or conditions
• Community Hospitals
• Trusts - Hospitals that are funded by the Public Sector
• Teaching Hospitals treat patients just like a Trust does, but they also teach medical staff on the premises
• Foundation Trusts where local people, patients and staff can become governors and hold the Trust to account
• Private Hospitals funded by insurance companies

A National Health Service (NHS) Trust provides services on behalf of NHS England and NHS Wales. Each Trust is led by a Board which is made up of Executive and Non-Executive Directors. The Executive Director is usually either the Chief Executive or Managing Director. Each Trust has Non-Executive Director's on their board to hold the board to account. A Non-Executive Director does not form part of the management of the Trust but is sometimes referred to as an independent director.

An NHS Trust is also known as an Acute Trust and more commonly known as a Hospital, they provide secondary care services to patients. These services are commissioned by Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG’s). There are 166 NHS Trusts within England, 99 of them are Foundation Trusts and they are regulated by NHS England.