Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (LTHT) is one of Europe’s largest and busiest acute hospital trusts, delivering healthcare and specialist services to the city of Leeds, the wider Yorkshire and Humber region, and beyond. With a budget exceeding £1.9 billion and a workforce of over 21,000, the Trust provides world-class care, trains the next generation of a wide range of medical, nursing, allied health and dental professionals, and is a recognised leader in research, innovation, and pioneering treatments. Its seven hospitals across five sites, including Leeds General Infirmary, St James’s University Hospital, and Leeds Children’s Hospital, are home to leading regional centres for cancer, neurosurgery, heart surgery, and transplantation.

LTHT cares for over 1.6 million patients each year, including 97,000 inpatient admissions, 1.2 million outpatient attendances, and 344,000 Emergency Department visits. Working in close partnership with the University of Leeds and other organisations, the Trust is driving advances in medical science and improving patient outcomes. All its hospitals share a clear vision to be the best for specialist and integrated care, delivering excellence for the communities they serve and setting national benchmarks for quality and innovation.

Following recent inspections into our neonatal and maternity services, along with the Care Quality Commission’s Well-Led report, this recruitment is purposefully designed to support the Trust on its improvement journey.

Person Specification

This vital Board position will play a key role in shaping the Trust’s long-term strategic direction, strengthening governance and assurance frameworks, and supporting the delivery of high-quality, safe and compassionate care for the diverse communities the Trust serves. Candidates should demonstrate a strong commitment to excellent patient outcomes and a passion for driving continuous improvement across organisational performance, culture and services.

Essential Criteria

• The ideal candidate will bring senior-level experience gained within a large and complex organisation, ideally from the public, voluntary, community or charity sectors, with insight into the challenges and opportunities facing health and social care.
• Experience in one or more of the following areas: workforce development, strategic planning, finance and risk management, performance management, or service transformation, enabling effective scrutiny and strategic leadership at board level.
• Strong independent judgement, analytical capability and the ability to provide constructive challenge while supporting the Executive team to deliver long-term, sustainable improvement.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to engage confidently and respectfully with a wide range of stakeholders, including patients, staff, partners and communities.
• A genuine commitment to the NHS, its values and the promotion of safe, equitable and high-quality healthcare services for all.

Personal Qualities

• Integrity and high ethical standards
• Commitment to the values and principles of the NHS
• Ability to work collaboratively and build effective relationships
• Resilience and adaptability in a complex and changing environment

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust welcomes applications from everyone regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, belief or disability. As those from an ethnic minority background are currently under-represented on the Board, applications from those individuals would be particularly encouraged. All appointments will be made on merit, following a fair and transparent process.

Candidate information pack: LTHT NHS NED Info Pack N3515.docx

Find out more

If you would like a confidential discussion about the roles, please contact our recruitment advisers at Nurole: Mark Bate, Head of Healthcare, 07535 678656 / mark.bate@nurole.com

Key dates

*For more information and to apply, please visit Nurole | The board director and senior executive job site

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