The Appointments Commission is the only organisation in the UK dedicated to public appointments, recruiting and selecting the best possible people for public appointments in all areas of public life With a change of name to the Appointments Commission, it was given new powers to provide recruitment and selection services for all Government Departments and NHS Foundation Trusts The Appointments Commission was established originally as the NHS Appointments Commission in 2001 to provide an independent and transparent appointment process for public appointments, based on the principle of selection on merit We work across all government departments including the NHS and handle more than 1,000 public appointments each year, representing around one third of all appointments regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments