This Order establishes the Ayrshire and Arran Acute Hospitals National Health Service Trust, an NHS trust provided for in section 12A of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978. It also provides for the functions of the trust both before (article 6) and after (article 3) its operational date (the date on which it assumes all its functions). It specifies the operational date and the accounting date of the trust (article 5) and makes provision for assistance to the trust by the appropriate Health Board before its operational date (article 7).