Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust (RCHT): 1 x Non Executive Director, 2 x Associate Non Executive Directors

powerfilledsites
Nov 17
2 min read

Closing Date: 12th December 2025

About the Organisation

The Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust (RCHT) was founded in 1992 and has three hospital sites: Royal Cornwall Hospital, Truro; St Michael’s Hospital, Hayle; and West Cornwall Hospital, Penzance.

RCHT serves around 480,000 residents across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly (CIOS), with the remainder of Cornwall’s population in the east and far north of the county looking to Plymouth and North Devon respectively, for their acute hospital services. The geography of the county, surrounded on three sides by sea, and the remoteness of the Isles of Scilly present unique challenges. The population is growing and ageing. The number of people living in Cornwall is rising faster than the national average and they are planning for a six percent increase by 2035 in the number of people who live there.

Over 7,000 people work together across their hospitals and services, including 400 volunteers and an in-house bank of over 1500 people working flexibly to help them respond to changes in demand.

About the role

There are vacancies for a Non-executive Director (NED) and up to two Associate NEDs at Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust (RCHT). 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. You will uphold the highest standards of integrity and corporate governance, provide independent challenge and support, and bring a strong commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion.

NED role: You will have senior level clinical and patient safety expertise gained from medical, nursing, allied disciplines or social care experience at a senior level in an academic, research, regulatory or clinically focused role. Ideally, the successful candidate will be a qualified General Practitioner having practiced, or recently retired from practice in Cornwall and Isles of Scilly, bringing clinical insight and experience to support the role effectively.

Associate NED(s): Up to two roles available from a voluntary, community and social enterprise sector or, a financial qualification and/or experience as an Audit Committee Chair.

As a future NHS leader, the successful candidates will be able to demonstrate that they meet the NHS leadership competency framework for board members (please see the candidate information pack below for the six domains). The competency domains are aligned to Our NHS People Promise, Our Leadership Way and the Seven Principles of Public Life (Nolan Principles).

Applicants should live in or have strong connections with the area served by the Trust.

The best boards are those that reflect the workforce and communities they serve. We particularly welcome applications from women, people from local black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, and people with disabilities, who we know are all under-represented in these important roles.

Application

Candidate Information Pack, can be found here
Applications should be sent to england.chairsandneds@nhs.net, quoting reference S3492
They strongly recommend an informal and confidential discussion with David Allen OBE, Chair of the Trust. Please contact rcht.corporategovernance@nhs.net
NHS England – for general process enquiries contact Jane Hundley by emailing jane.hundley@nhs.net