Board Trustee (Consultant) in Crowborough

Shape the future of patient care. Influence at Board level. Make a lasting difference. Horder Healthcare is looking for an exceptional Board Trustee (Consultant) to join our Board at an exciting time in our journey. This is a unique opportunity for a consultant-level leader to bring their expertise, insight and independent voice to a values-led healthcare charity committed to delivering outstanding patient care and continuous improvement.

As a Board Trustee, you will play a vital role in helping Horder Healthcare deliver its ambition to provide safe, effective and compassionate care to every patient. You will bring an independent perspective, supporting and constructively challenging the executive team to ensure the organisation maintains the highest standards of clinical quality, governance and patient experience. Your contribution will directly influence how services evolve, how quality is assured, and how a positive, high-performing culture is sustained across the organisation.

This is more than a Board role - it's an opportunity to:

• Shape the strategic direction of a respected healthcare charity
• Influence how care is delivered across hospital and community services
• Make a meaningful difference to patient safety, experience and outcomes
• Work with a committed, collaborative and high-performing Board

The role:

As a Board Trustee, you will contribute to the overall leadership of Horder Healthcare. You'll bring an independent perspective, helping ensure strong decision making, robust governance and outstanding organisational performance. In this consultant-focused NED role, you will:

• Share collective responsibility for the strategic direction, performance and sustainability of Horder Healthcare, helping define its vision, mission and objectives while ensuring its values are reflected in all activities.
• Provide independent judgement across all Board matters, including strategy, finance, risk and organisational performance.
• Ensure compliance with the governing document, charity and company law, Care Quality Commission (CQC) and Charity Commission requirements, and all relevant legislation.
• Act as an ambassador for Horder Healthcare, supporting its mission, external relationships and (where appropriate) fundraising activities.
• Bring expert surgical perspective to inform strategic decisions.
• Contribute to discussions on surgical models, service delivery and workforce planning.

About you:

You are a creditable, senior leader with the confidence and integrity to both support and challenge constructively at Board level. You will bring:

• Registration as a medical practitioner with a licence to practise and consultant-level experience in surgical/MSK, ideally gained within the NHS and/or independent sector.
• Evidence of recent or current research activity, such as participation in clinical trials, publication record, academic appointments, or leadership in research governance.
• Strong understanding of clinical governance, patient safety systems and quality assurance frameworks within surgical and MSK pathways.
• The regulatory environment, including CQC requirements, duty of candour, consent and surgical safety standards.
• Experience of multidisciplinary team working, including collaboration with physiotherapy, nursing, diagnostics and rehabilitation services.
• Experience working at, or closely with, Board level, including exposure to risk management, assurance processes and performance oversight.
• Academic or teaching experience, including supervision of trainees or involvement in training programme development.
• Experience in digital innovation, surgical technologies or data-driven outcomes measurement.
• Understanding of the independent healthcare sector, charity governance or social enterprise models.
• Experience in service redesign, pathway optimisation or productivity improvement within surgical services.

Most importantly, you will share our values: Caring, Friendly, Quality, Integrity, Pride Commitment.

6 annual in-person Board meetings:

• 4 x 5-hour meetings including a formal Board meeting plus dinner
• 2 x all-day meetings incorporating a strategic away day + 2-hour formal Board meeting
• 4 annual in-person Clinical Governance Committee meetings – 2-hours per meeting

Please note: this is a non-remunerated position. At Horder Healthcare, we are proud to champion and celebrate diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging in all areas of our business. We are committed to creating an environment of mutual respect where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants without regard to protected characteristics by applicable law.

As a disability confident employer, we are pleased to offer our full support should you require an alternative method of applying or any reasonable adjustments to be made during the recruitment process. In order to streamline our recruitment process, we reserve the right to expire vacancies prior to the advertised closing date once we have received a sufficient number of applications.

Due to the nature of work here at Horder Healthcare, and to ensure that we remain committed to our Safeguarding policy, any applicant upon an initial offer of employment will be subject to pre-employment checks, including an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS check). References and Occupational Health checks will also be taken up before appointment.