The East of England has one Strategic Health Authority covering the six counties of Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire whose role is to support the NHS Trusts in the Region. There are currently 40 NHS Organisations, employing over 100,000 people in total.

These are made up of:

• 18 Acute Trusts
• 14 Primary Care Trusts
• 1 Ambulance Trusts
• 7 Mental Health Partnership Trusts

The independent sector has an increasingly important role to play in providing NHS patients with more choice in when, how and where they are treated. We are looking to develop partnerships between the commercial sector and the NHS, both in our region and beyond, for the benefit of patient healthcare.