Dorset HealthCare is, quite simply, a breath of fresh air, just like our beautiful county. We like to do things differently and that’s one of the reasons the CQC rated us ‘outstanding’ in 2019, making us the first mental health trust providing community services in the South of England to be given this rating and one of only a small handful nationally. Inspectors found that not only were a number of individual services outstanding but also that the Trust was, overall, outstanding for being caring and well-led; a reflection of our collective effort and determination to deliver the very best outcomes for our patients, their families and friends. It’s not just the CQC who think we are on the right track: 95% of our patients say they have a good or very good experience of our services and 89% of our staff feel they can really make a difference.

We are a dynamic and inclusive organisation -  progressive, cohesive and  innovative with a clear core purpose and a mature approach to challenges – something that has been tested in recent times as we have worked to minimise the ongoing impact of Covid-19 on our staff and on the communities we serve. Looking ahead, we are keen to ensure we can embed some of the positive learnings from the pandemic to allow us to continue to improve and innovate for our patients and staff.

Given the pace and amount of change and transformation taking place both within Dorset Healthcare itself and in the national – and international – provision of health and care, there has never been a more important and exciting time to join our Board. We are looking for a new Non-Executive Director who can bring their professional and lived experience to bear; providing challenge, support and fresh insight into some of the challenges we will face in the coming years and helping us achieve our vision to be better every day through excellence, compassion and expertise all that we do.

The ideal candidates will be people who have tended to spot opportunity early, are tireless in their pursuit of excellence and who derive satisfaction from helping others to grow and develop. In terms of professional expertise, we don’t have any fixed ideas on this and would be open to candidates from a broad range of backgrounds who can demonstrate that they could add value to our high performing and collegiate board. In particular we want to encourage applications from candidates from groups that are currently under-represented, including disabled people and members of our black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, to improve and enhance the diversity of experience in our Trust.

If you would like to learn more please contact our recruitment partners, Rhiannon Smith or Jenny Adrian, at Hunter Healthcare on 07939 250362.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,
Andy Willis, Chair