Health Commission Wales

HCW is also responsible for some national services, for example, the Ambulance Service.

These web pages explain how HCW - whose full title is Health Commission Wales (Specialist Services) - works, and what this means for all of us in Wales.

Health Commission Wales is responsible for the commissioning of tertiary ("third level") and other specialist services which need a population base greater than any individual NHS Trust. These services are not delivered at every hospital but at regional or national centres.  The most specialist ones are provided at only one or two centres in the whole of the UK.

HCW is also responsible for commissioning designated services on a national scale. These include blood and screening services and NHS Direct Wales.

It also provides advice and guidance to NHS Wales on the commissioning of specialised secondary and regional services; and on the commissioning of acute services; as well as providing independent advice and guidance on difficult issues relating to specialist services.