Tees, Esk & Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust
Chair
Remuneration £50,000 (currently under review) for circa 3 days per week
West Park Hospital, Darlington
This job post will be advertised for a minimum period of two weeks on LinkedIn. After this time please apply directly to https://join-tewv.com until the closing date of Monday 12 January 2026, 9am.
Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust provides inpatient and community mental health, learning disability, and autism services to a population of over 2 million people across County Durham, Darlington, Teesside, North Yorkshire, and York. We are geographically one of the largest NHS Foundation Trusts in England, and also a provider of forensic and health & justice services across the North East, Cumbria, and parts of Lancashire. Working in a collaborative, multi-agency environment, we are a large and complex organisation operating out of more than 90 sites, with an annual income of over £550 million and almost 8,500 staff.
Everything we do is guided by ‘Our Journey to Change’ and our Values. This is our commitment to co-creating a great experience for our patients, carers, and colleagues, and to being a great partner. Whilst we remain rated as ‘Requires Improvement’ by the CQC, their inspection earlier this year reflected we have made significant progress in improving our services, with our mental health crisis services and health-based places of safety rated as ‘Good’. The report also highlighted that staff shared a vision and culture, worked with capable and compassionate leaders, and there were sound structures in place for staff to speak up. We are tremendously proud of our continued improvement, and we remain committed to making sure that our Trust is a great place to work, and that we continue to provide safe, kind, and effective care for our communities. We have a committed and engaged Council of Governors who work tirelessly with staff and the Board to improve services for patients and carers. Our patients are at the heart of everything we do and TEWV is an exemplar in co-production and co-design.
In our new Chair, we are seeking a values-driven and inspirational leader who will provide our Board with strong leadership, vision, and strategic oversight. You will therefore need exemplary leadership skills gained at board level, supported by experience of managing complex stakeholder relationships. Your political acumen and communication skills will give you the personal credibility needed internally with staff and patients, and externally with our partners. Most importantly, you will share our values of Respect, Compassion, and Responsibility; who you are as a person matters to us and our communities.
We want our Board to be as inclusive and diverse as possible, and we are keen to attract candidates who can bring diverse perspectives. We warmly welcome expressions of interest from the widest possible range of backgrounds, particularly those who are under-represented at board level in the NHS.
To learn more about this exceptional role and the recruitment process, please click Apply to visit our dedicated recruitment website. For an informal conversation, please contact Helen Barkham, Niamh Blair, or Robin Staveley at GatenbySanderson via helen.barkham@gatenbysanderson.com.
Closing date: Monday 12 January 2026, 9am.
Preliminary interviews with GatenbySanderson: w/c 19 January 2026
Final interview and stakeholder activity: 16 & 17 February 2026