NHS Wales
The logo of NHS Wales
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| Publicly funded healthcare service overview | |
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| Jurisdiction | Wales |
| Employees | 72,000 |
| Annual budget | £6 billion |
| Minister responsible | |
| Publicly funded healthcare service executives |
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| Child Publicly funded healthcare service | |
NHS Wales (Welsh: GIG Cymru) is the official corporate name of the Welsh National Health Service (Gwasanaeth Iechyd Gwladol Cymru): a publicly funded healthcare system which is the responsibility of the devolved Welsh Government.
NHS Wales was originally formed as part of the public health system for England and Wales created by the National Health Service Act 1946 with powers over the NHS in Wales coming under the Secretary of State for Wales in 1969. Responsibility for NHS Wales was passed to the Welsh Government under devolution in 1999 and has since then been the responsibility of the Welsh Minister for Health and Social Services.
NHS Wales provides emergency services and a range of primary, secondary, and specialist tertiary care services. District General Hospitals provide outpatient, inpatient, and accident and emergency services, and there is a network of community hospitals run by GPs. Specialist hospitals provide services such as burns units and plastic and cardiac surgery. NHS Wales also funds GP services, dental services, pharmacies, and sexual health services. Community services are also provided which includes district nurses, health visitors, midwives, and community-based speech therapists, physiotherapists, and occupational therapists.
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.
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