Hospital trust announces new appointment to board of directors

David Bennett, a former non-executive director at The Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, began his three-year term this month.

Mr Bennett graduated from the University of Southampton with a degree in chemistry before entering management consultancy, later taking up a role as partner in the strategy practice of professional services company Accenture.

He joined Exel Logistics in 2003 and managed the company's healthcare business across Europe and the Middle East.

During this time he established NHS Supply Chain in the UK, an organisation responsible for the procurement and delivery of medical consumables and the sourcing of capital equipment for the NHS.

He joined the board of Cable & Wireless in 2008 as sales director and later set up his own strategy consultancy serving the healthcare sector and completed numerous projects in both the UK and the US.

“I feel very privileged to join the board of a trust with such a high and well-deserved reputation and I look forward to supporting the organisation through the coming years,” said Mr Bennett.

Peter Hollins, chair of UHS, said: “I am delighted to welcome David to the board and look forward to benefitting from his extensive experience in business and healthcare which will be valuable to the management of this organisation.

“He has close links with the NHS through his work on the rollout of NHS Supply Chain and has also served on the board of an NHS trust where he chaired the quality committee.”

All non-executive appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, in accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for appointees' political activity (if any declared) to be made public.

Mr Bennett holds no other ministerial appointments and is not involved in any political activity.

The appointment was led by the governors’ nominations committee and approved by the Council of Governors in accordance with the requirements of the trust’s constitution. Mr Bennett will receive a non-executive director remuneration of £10,000 to £15,000 per year.