Regional hospital boards (RHBs) were established in 1947 by the National Health Service Act 1946 to administer hospital and specialist services of the National Health Service (NHS) in England and Wales. Each board was responsible for a number of hospital management committees (HMCs), and each region was associated with a university running a school of medicine. The National Health Service Reorganisation Act 1973 replaced the hospital boards with regional health authorities and area health authorities in 1974. The membership of each board would usually include one or more doctors from the region, a senior nurse or dentist, and elected members of the relevant local authorities, as well as a usually at least one trades union member. The RHB was responsible for appointing the members of each HMC it was responsible for, as well as professional advisory committees on matters pertinent to the work of the board.

List of NHS Regional Hospital Boards in England, 1947-1974

Each board administered a regional hospital area, which was defined in terms of local government units: administrative counties, county boroughs, metropolitan boroughs, urban districts and rural districts. In 1965 a new Wessex Regional Hospital Area was formed from the western part of the South-West Metropolitan Hospital Area: At the same time the Welsh Regional Hospital Area was redesignated as the Welsh Hospital Area, and the Regional Hospital Board became the Welsh Hospital Board.

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