Non-Executive Director - Clinical, East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust

Our philosophy is that time matters – we will remove or improve the things we do that cause unnecessary stress or frustration for our patients, their families and carers and our staff.

The Trust is a major integrated acute and community provider and one of the largest employers in East Anglia. Our almost 13,000 staff are responsible for delivering services to a population of approximately a million people living locally.

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Dear Candidate
Thank you for your interest in joining us as a Non-Executive Director at East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust. We are delighted that you are considering bringing your skills and experience to our Board at this important time for our Trust, our staff, and the communities we serve.
ESNEFT is one of the largest NHS trusts in the country, with almost 13,000 colleagues providing care to around one million people across Ipswich, east Suffolk, and north Essex. We are proud of the high quality and compassionate care delivered every day in our hospitals and community services, and we are ambitious about the difference we can make in the future.
We are now seeking a Non-Executive Director who brings a clinical perspective to our Board. Whether your background is in medicine, nursing, allied health professions, or another clinical field, your insight will be invaluable in shaping our strategy, supporting innovation, and ensuring that decisions taken in the boardroom always keep patients and staff at the heart.
This role offers the opportunity to influence care and outcomes on a large scale, while also supporting us through a period of exciting change. We are implementing a clinically led digital transformation programme, including the introduction of our new electronic patient record system in 2025, and we continue to play an active role in tackling health inequalities and improving population health across our region.
We want to hear from people who are values-driven, inclusive in their leadership, and passionate about improving healthcare. We know that the best Boards reflect the communities they serve, and we welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, particularly those currently underrepresented in senior roles. What matters most is your ability to bring fresh perspectives, to ask insightful questions, and to support and challenge us to deliver the very best for our patients and staff.
This is an influential role where your contribution will help shape the future of ESNEFT and the wider health system. If you share our values and our commitment to compassionate, high quality care, we would be delighted to hear from you.
We look forward to meeting you through the process and to learning more about the perspective and expertise you could bring to our Board.
At ESNEFT we provide hospital and community health care services for Colchester, Ipswich and local areas. Formed on 1 July 2018, ESNEFT is the largest NHS organisation in East Anglia.
We provide services from Colchester and Ipswich hospitals, Aldeburgh, Clacton, Halstead, Harwich and Felixstowe community hospitals and Bluebird Lodge near Ipswich. We also provide community services in Suffolk and north Essex. Colchester and Ipswich hospitals have major Emergency Departments (A&E). Other services are listed in our A-Z services.
Our mission
To continue to meet the principles of the NHS identified in 1948, that good healthcare should be available to all, regardless of ability to pay.
Our vision
Our vision is to provide the communities we serve with excellent healthcare and build a better future for east Suffolk and north Essex.
Our aims
Our aims are to see patients at the right time, attract and retain the best staff, and provide the latest services locally.
Our ambition
Our ambition is to provide the best care and experience, and to increase equality in health outcomes.
Our objectives
Our objectives remain to:
1. Keep people in control of their health
2. Lead the integration of care
3. Develop our centres of excellence
4. Support and develop our staff
5. Drive technology enabled care
We have a vacancy for one Non-Executive Director (NED) to join our Board. We are particularly interested in candidates bringing clinical experience to the Trust, perhaps from a nursing, medical, AHP or wider clinical background. This is an exceptional opportunity to share your talents and expertise to make a positive difference to the lives of people served by the Trust.
The Board plays a key role in shaping our strategy, vision and purpose, in holding the organisation to account for the delivery of our strategy, and in ensuring value for money and managing risk. Working alongside Executive Directors, Non-Executive Directors play a critical role in the leadership and governance, shaping culture, and promoting the success of the Trust for the benefit of our patients and the communities we serve.
With experience that might have been gained inside or outside the NHS, the successful candidate will be able to demonstrate the range of behaviours required to contribute effectively in this board level role. These are outlined in the NHS Leadership Competency Framework. All Non-Executive Directors must champion the standards of public life – by upholding the highest standards of conduct and displaying the principles of selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty, and leadership, and we will be looking for these qualities in our new Non-Executive Director.
Applicants should live in or have strong connections with the area served by the Trust.
On average this role will typically require the equivalent of 3-4 days a month, however the time commitment may vary and a flexible approach should be taken.
Given the significant public profile and responsibility members of NHS Boards hold, it is vital that those appointed inspire confidence of the public, patients and NHS staff at all times. NHS England requires Trusts to undertake a number of background checks to ensure that those we appoint are “fit and proper” people to hold this important role.
NEDs are appointed by the Trust’s Council of Governors, and more information on them can be found here.
You will work alongside seven other NEDs, including the Chair, two Associate NEDs and seven voting Executive Directors (EDs) as an equal member of a unitary Board of Directors, accountable to the Trust Chair and Council of Governors.
You will share responsibility with fellow Directors for the strategic leadership, direction, governance and overall success of the organisation in delivering healthcare and improving the health of local people. You will bring independence, objective judgement and constructive challenge to bear on issues of strategy, performance and resources.
Key Responsibilities:
- Contribute to the development of strategies, business cases and governance processes that will drive delivery of effective management to achieve excellence in quality and financial outcomes
- Ensure that the Board sets challenging goals and objectives for service delivery and achievement of targets and monitors progress towards those goals and objectives.
- Provide insight to and relevant experience of organisational development and culture to aid Board discussions and decisions concerning organisational change programmes.
- Scrutinise and challenge proposals to support the provision of modernised, patient-focused services across East Suffolk and North Essex and the surrounding areas.
- Be a member of, or chair, Board Committees as requested by the Chair and agreed by the Board
- Uphold the Nolan Principles of Public Life and promote these principles through the organisation.
- Be held to account by the Council of Governors, individually and collectively, for the performance of the Board.
- Promote the success of the organisation so as to maximise the benefits for the members as a whole and the public.
- Avoid conflicts of interests.
Please click here to review and download this document
All applications must include:
• A full curriculum vitae/resume
• Quoting the relevant role reference number: A041006
• A covering letter highlighting the aspects of the job description and ESNEFT that particularly attract you to the post (Microsoft Word document)
• Contact details for three referees, these will not be contacted without your permission. (References should validate a minimum period of six years employment)
• A completed Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form (which you will be redirected to once you have submitted your application) *
Right to work checks
If you are successfully shortlisted, our partner, Yoti, will contact you to complete an online right to work check. This is a quick and secure process, ensuring that all necessary legal requirements are met before proceeding further in the recruitment process.
*Monitoring
One of Alumni Global’s and ESNEFTs objectives is to ensure that its workforce is reflective of the local community and therefore we actively encourage applications from under-represented groups. So that we can successfully achieve these aims, while it is not mandatory we would encourage every applicant to complete the “Equal Opportunities Monitoring form” so that we can measure the effectiveness of our efforts. The Recruiting Manager does not have access to the Monitoring Information Sections of the application form at any stage of the process and the information provided will be kept entirely confidential.
For a confidential discussion on this role please contact:
Thomas Patterson, Managing Director or Beth Stickney, Principal Researcher on +44 7703 821 996
Candidate adjustment
If you require any reasonable adjustments to be made as part of the recruitment process please can you advise us so that we can ensure this is accommodated.
Closing date: 18th September 2025
Stakeholder session: 20th October 2025
Final Interviews: 21st or 24th October 2025
Please ensure you have made a note of the final interview date(s). We recommend that you bookmark this microsite, as any potential updates regarding the role will be posted online.