Established in 1991 as a 'first wave' NHS Trust, Wirral Hospital Trust comprises two hospitals, at Arrowe Park (approximately 900 beds) and Clatterbridge (approximately 250 beds) together with facilities at Victoria Central (approximately 57 beds) and St Catherine's Community Hospitals. It provides a range of acute services for a population of approximately 320,000 people in Wirral, Ellesmere Port and Neston. A description of our services appears in Class 6 of the Publication Scheme.

Our work as a Trust is based upon the strategic direction established by the Department of Health. The Department of Health website can be found at www.doh.gov.uk and has links to key national strategies, such as the NHS Plan, the National Service Frameworks for Older People, Coronary Heart Disease, Diabetes and Children and the NHS Cancer Plan, that guide our organisation and the wider NHS.

Wirral Hospital Trust is part of the NHS, a very large part of the Public Sector. This diagram represents the organisational structure of the NHS and shows where we, as an NHS Trust, sit.

There are 28 Strategic Health Authorities across the UK - each serves an average population of 1.5 million and they are responsible for ensuring the delivery of improvements and the modernisation of NHS services. There are 275 NHS Trusts across England, of which Wirral Hospital is one. You can see a full list of all the Trusts at www.nhs.uk. The Trust is an acute Hospital and exists to provide a range of acute services to patients. All Trusts have an obligation to deliver quality services, meet national targets and work in partnership with other agencies including the local Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) from whom income is obtained. The diagram below indicates how Wirral Hospital Trust fits into the local NHS Structure.