The United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust was formed in April 2000 by the merger of the three former acute hospital trusts in Lincolnshire, creating one of the largest trusts in the country. Through four main hospitals and four sites where we provide some services, we provide a comprehensive range of hospital-based medical, surgical, paediatric, obstetric and gynaecological services to the 700,000 people of Lincolnshire. We provide a wide range of healthcare services delivered by over 8500 highly trained staff and volunteers. Our services cost more than £400 million each year to provide. We invest around £12 million each year in improving our clinical services by replacing and upgrading our medical equipment, modernising our estate and facilities and improving our information and technology infrastructure. In an average year, we treat more than 180,000 accident and emergency patients, nearly half a million outpatients and almost 100,000 inpatients.