NHS Structure in UK

NHS is divided into two sections: primary and secondary care. Primary care is generally regarded as a “frontline” service. It is the first point of contact for most people and is delivered by a wide range of independent contractors such as GPs, dentists, pharmacists and optometrists.
Secondary care is known as acute health care and can be either elective care or emergency care. Elective care means planned specialist medical care or surgery, usually following referral from a primary or community health professional such as a GP.

Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) are in charge of primary care and have a major role around commissioning secondary care, providing community care services. Although their number has been reduced from 303 to 152, PCTs are now at the centre of the NHS and control 80% of the NHS budget. As they are local organisations, they are best positioned to understand the needs of their community, so they can make sure that the organisations providing health and social care services are working effectively. The PCTs oversee 29,000 GPs and 18,000 NHS dentists.
There are 290 NHS Hospital Trusts which oversee 1,600 NHS hospitals and specialist care centres. Foundation trusts are a new type of NHS hospital of which are currently 105 available across England.

Emergency vehicles are provided by the NHS Ambulance Services Trusts. There are 12 ambulance trusts in England. The Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland ambulance services provide cover for those countries.
NHS Care Trusts provide care in both health and social fields. There are few Care Trusts and they are based mainly in England. There are none in Scotland and the Scottish NHS has no plans to introduce them.
NHS Mental Health Services Trusts provide mental health care in England and are overseen by the Primary Care Trusts.
There are also agencies under the umbrella of the NHS. These include the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE)