Who we are

We help NHS foundation trusts and trusts to deliver high-quality, patient-focused care by enabling them to learn from each other, acting as their public voice and helping shape the system in which they operate.

The NHS member trusts in England we represent collectively account for £124bn of annual expenditure and employ 1.5 million people.

Everything we do is to support and advocate on behalf of our member trusts, and at this time of significant change and challenges for the NHS our work has never felt more important.

We are committed to delivering value through our influencing activities, support, events and development programmes, media work and communications. This includes:

• Shape and influence the financial, policy and regulatory frameworks impacting on members' day-to-day work and future development via policy consultations and horizon scanning.
• Build effective relationships with key stakeholders in central government, with regulators and across healthcare.
• Champion member interests and raise their profile positively in the media.
• Help providers drive improvement through effective shared development of best practice, support and learning for board members, governors and executive colleagues.
• Create networking opportunities.
• Support trusts in becoming foundation trusts.

Our four strategic objectives of influence, voice, support and excellent organisation drive our organisation in everything we do and help us to organise our work. These are:

• Influence – to shape the environment and culture in which our members operate – with a dedicated focus on finances, quality, workforce, governance, regulation, digital transformation, integration and system working.
• Voice – to be the collective voice of NHS providers working in local systems, reflecting the diversity of our membership, and championing their interests in the media, government, the NHS and wider health and care community.
• Support – to help our members and their local system partners drive improvement and innovation through effective, shared development, support and learning.
• Excellent organisation – to provide outstanding value for money to our members, create a supportive environment for staff and continually improve, driven by our values.

In addition we have three key priorities for 2025/26:

1. Shape and support NHS reform.
2. Advocate for trust leaders in all sectors of our membership, across hospital, mental health, community and ambulance.
3. Develop and improve our organisation to maximise our effectiveness.

Underpinning everything we do are our four values which reflect those of our member trusts, and of the NHS, and encapsulate how we work and interact with each other, our members and partners. 

They are the thread running through all our work and are used to help us measure individual and organisational performance. Our four values are:

• Respectful – we act with honesty, compassion, openness, and integrity and recognise the contribution each of us makes.
• Inclusive – we celebrate diversity and seek out different viewpoints. We act to call out and tackle discrimination.
• Collaborative – we work as a team internally, and with our members, stakeholders and partners to deliver positive results.
• Effective – we deliver professional, high-quality work which is member led and supports the health and care service to deliver value and positive change for patients.

This is all illustrated in our strategic triangle:

We have around 100 members of staff across four broad areas: communications, development and engagement, policy and corporate services.

Our senior management team is below.

In order to be effective as a membership organisation, we need to be excellent at identifying our members’ needs and meeting them. We must also be fully accountable to our members in all that we do.

The way we are governed reflects this commitment and such we are led by our members. We have an active board of 20 chairs and chief executives, elected by member trusts.

The NHS provides a comprehensive health service to the public based on clinical need, not an individual's ability to pay; it provides care for free, at the point of use, for more than 57.7 million people.

It is one of the largest employers in the world and the biggest in Europe, with a workforce of 1.37 million people (full time equivalents) and an annual expenditure of £124bn.
 
It's divided into primary care, secondary care, and tertiary care. Primary care is often the first point of contact for people in need of healthcare, usually provided by professionals such as GPs, dentists and pharmacists.

Secondary care, which is sometimes referred to as 'hospital and community care', can either be planned (elective) care such as a cataract operation, or urgent and emergency care such as treatment for a fracture. Tertiary care refers to highly specialised treatment such as neurosurgery, transplants and secure forensic mental health services.

There are currently 205 NHS providers of secondary and tertiary care – 143 foundation trusts and 62 NHS trusts. Other non-NHS organisations such as charities and private healthcare companies also provide secondary and tertiary care services. 

Of the 205 NHS providers there are:

• 69 acute providers (providing largely hospital-based services). 
• 10 ambulance services.
• 13 community providers (providing services such as district nursing, health visiting).
• 50 integrated providers (for example organisations that provide both acute and community care).
• 19 mental health providers.
• 29 combined mental health and learning disability and community providers.
• 15 specialist providers (providing services such as specialist eyecare or cancer treatment).

Based on the most recent figures available, every year NHS providers:

• Transport more than 4.4 million patients to A&E by ambulance.
• Manage 27.4 A&E attendances.
• Manage more than 135m outpatient appointments.
• Provide 106m contacts in community services.
• Receive over 5m referrals for specialist mental health and learning disabilities services.
• Deliver over 545,000 babies.