Non-Executive Director, Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust

The Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust is the main provider of hospital services for the people of Reading, Newbury, Henley, Wokingham and the surrounding villages of Berkshire West and South Oxfordshire.

At our heart we are a local hospital that works with NHS and social care partners to provide excellent healthcare services for those who live in our communities and beyond. We provide a full range of services serving a catchment area of just over 500,000 people. In addition, we provide specialist Cancer, Cardiology and Renal services that serve a wider population of over a million.

We employ more than 7,000 staff from 89 different nationalities, and each year we are responsible for over £600m of NHS resources. We deliver care from a network of facilities across the area including facilities in Bracknell, Henley-on-Thames, Thatcham and Windsor.

Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust operates across seven sites: Royal Berkshire Hospital, University of Reading, Whiteknights Campus, Townlands Memorial Hospital in Henley; West Berkshire Community Hospital in Thatcham; Bracknell Healthspace in Bracknell; Prince Charles Eye Unit and Windsor Dialysis Unit in Windsor.

Click here to read the welcome letter
‍Royal Berkshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is a well performing organisation, rated Good by the Care Quality Commission, with a strong reputation for leadership, highly quality patient care and continuous improvement. Recent national patient surveys place Royal Berkshire among the top acute hospital trusts in England for inpatient experience.

The Trust serves more than 500,000 people across Berkshire West and beyond, providing a wide range of acute and specialist services. We are proud of our staff and the care they deliver, and we are ambitious to go further in ensuring every patient and family has a consistently positive experience.

We are now seeking a new Non-Executive Director to champion patient experience, access and the overall quality of care across our services.

This is a key Board appointment. You will bring a strong consumer and citizen perspective, helping the Trust see services through the eyes of patients, families and communities. You will support and challenge the Executive team to improve access, tackle inequalities and strengthen the quality and consistency of the patient journey across all communities we serve.

You do not need an NHS background. We welcome senior leaders from customer focused sectors such as consumer services, retail, public services, local government or the voluntary sector, who understand how organisations design services around the people who use them.

As a Board member, you will work closely with the Chair, Chief Executive and fellow Non-Executive Directors to shape strategy, governance, culture and performance. You will bring curiosity, sound judgement and the confidence to offer constructive challenge, while supporting the Trust to deliver safe, high quality and equitable care.

This is an opportunity to make a meaningful difference to patients and communities and to contribute to the leadership of a large, ambitious and high performing NHS organisation.

For a confidential discussion, please contact our advisors at Alumni Global, Frank McKenna, Managing Director, or David Heaton, Principal Researcher on David.heaton@alumniglobal.com or +44 7842 003 200. For further information please see the rest of this microsite.
Royal Berkshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion and welcomes applications from individuals from all backgrounds.
Please click here to view the Job Description:
Non-Executive Director
All applications must include:
• A full curriculum vitae/resume
• Quoting the relevant role reference number:
Non-Executive Director - A041343
• A covering letter highlighting the aspects of the job description and Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust 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) *
Monitoring
One of Alumni Global’s and Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust’s 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:
Frank McKenna, Global Managing Director or David Heaton, Principal Researcher, details of which can be found at the bottom of this microsite.
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.
Key Milestones:
Closing date: 27th February 2026
Stakeholder session: TBC
Final Interviews: w/c 23rd or 30th March 2026 - TBC
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.