If you're looking for a reason to care about the state of the NHS, I can give you 22 million. That's the total number of times patients in Wales come into contact with the NHS in its many forms every year.

For most, that just means a trip to the GP when they're feeling unwell. But for some, it can involve being flown by Air Ambulance to an Accident and Emergency centre to receive life-saving surgery. Paid for by public taxes - everyone has a stake in the NHS, and so an interest in keeping it healthy.

In Wales we also have control over its direction. Since devolution in 1999, the Assembly Government has had responsibility for the NHS in Wales. It devotes around a third of its annual budget to health and social care. For 2006-07, that means over five billion pounds.

Not surprisingly, how and where that money is spent is often controversial - and it depends on a pretty complex structure.

We have 22 Local Health Boards (LHBs) - that correspond with the 22 council areas across Wales. They get their money from the Assembly Government - and have to fund everything from family doctors and dentists to the care provided at hospitals. More specialised care is organised by Health Commission Wales.

The job of running the hospitals is down to the NHS Trusts - of which there are 14 in Wales, when you include the Ambulance Service. The trusts are also responsible for health centres and day care units.

Confused? You're not the only one:

"Where NHS Trusts have to provide services commissioned by more than one Local Health Board it does become too complex and bureaucratic," says Tina Donnelly from the Royal College of Nursing.

"Its because each LHB might have different requirements and policies and the Trust has to meet everyone's specifications."

But the whole idea of having so many bodies is too make them accountable to their patients.

"It's not simply about the number of organisations - a single large organisation can be just as complex and bureaucratic as lots of smaller ones, sometimes more so" argues Kevin Sullivan from the Welsh NHS Confederation.