As of April 2020[update], there were altogether 217 trusts, and they employ around 800,000 of the NHS's 1.2 million staff.
[1] NHS trusts were established under the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 and were set up in five waves.
All trust boards are required to have an audit committee consisting only of non-executive directors, on which the chair may not sit.
This committee is entrusted not only with the supervision of financial audit, but of systems of corporate governance within the trust.
[citation needed] Several special health authorities, organised on a national basis, deal with NHS-wide issues.