Founded in 1838, St Andrew’s Healthcare is a charity which provides specialist mental healthcare for people with complex mental health needs. With over 3,000 permanent staff caring for 600 inpatients in Northampton, Birmingham and Essex, its purpose remains to relieve suffering, give hope and promote recovery.

The people who use St Andrew's services come from different backgrounds and places, and have various mental and physical health needs. Some individuals need short–term, intensive support following a mental health crisis or breakdown, and some people stay for longer periods; for these individuals, the Charity can provide not just medical interventions, but also therapy and support to help them get their lives back on track. Some patients come to St Andrew’s towards the end of their life, and expert staff care for them in as comfortable an environment as possible.

What St Andrew's does

The headquarters and largest site of St Andrew's Healthcare is in Northampton, but it also has hospitals in Birmingham and Essex, and two residential homes in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, which provide specialist, locally-focussed mental healthcare. The Charity offers care across a number of services, including Men’s and Women’s Mental Health, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), Neuropsychiatry, Autistic Spectrum Disorder and Learning Disabilities.

Across three hospitals, St Andrew's currently provides treatment and care for around 620 inpatients who face challenges of mental illnesses, developmental disorders, brain injuries and neurological conditions. It also offers treatment and support for individuals within community settings and as outpatients to different groups, including former members of the Armed Forces and people within the Criminal Justice System. In 2021/22, the Charity supported c. 2,000 community patients via various outpatient activities, and also worked with other services to support individuals as they leave hospital care.

Challenges

It has been a challenging year for the healthcare sector. As an organisation, St Andrew's is still feeling the impact of the pandemic, and - much like its colleagues in the NHS - the national shortage of healthcare staff is a challenge. A recently launched Thrive Programme focusses on investing in frontline staff in order to ensure that patients have the support they need and the best quality care possible, and can access the full breadth of therapies and activities, seven days per week.

Despite providing some exceptional high quality services, this is not consistently the case across all the Charity's services and has been reflected in some CQC ratings in previous years. Whilst recognising significant improvements have been made, St Andrew's is not delivering the services consistently in a manner for which it strives. As such, and to support the ongoing improvements required, a new Quality Strategy has been agreed. This is being implemented with a focus on: workforce capacity and capability; strengthened clinical governance processes and procedures; patient safety and the implementation of the new national Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF); and the embedding of the Co-Production Strategy to increase the involvement of patients and carers in all that it does do.

Strategy

St Andrew's is in the process of adopting a new strategic direction, which will see the Charity through until 2028. Over the next five years, its vision is to create a society in which everyone living with a mental health need is heard, valued, and has hope for their future. By 2028, it aims to be a leading voice in helping people with complex mental health needs transform their lives. St Andrew's has exciting plans to help achieve its ambitions, which include a focus on quality, providing more care in the community, and investing more in research and education which will improve the lives of those it serves.

As part of this new strategic direction, St Andrew's is looking to maximise all its available resources to drive forward the new strategy. This includes maximising the use and income of a substantial and historic estate so that it can invest in diversification of its services and respond to the future direction of mental health policy, which is increasingly to provide services for those with complex challenges in the community.

St Andrew's Healthcare is fortunate enough to have a passionate and outstanding Board. Its Non-Executive Chair is the Rt Hon Paul Burstow, a former Health Minister with responsibility for mental health, who is now also Chair of the NHS Hertfordshire and West Essex Integrated Care Board as well as Chair of the Social Care Institute of Excellence.

The Board operates as a Unitary Board, with a single Board of Directors, made up of Executive and Non-Executive members. The Board can comprise of a maximum nine Non-Executive Directors and six Executive Directors. The Executive Directors are also members of the Charity Executive Team and, in addition to the Trustees, some members of the Charity Executive Team are in attendance at Board meetings.

The role of a Non-Executive Director includes responsibility for setting strategy and ensuring that St Andrew's creates a culture to embrace and deliver our charitable purpose, complying with the principles of good governance and the relevant laws and regulations. This includes to:

• Contribute actively to the Board of Directors’ in giving strategic direction to the organisation, defining goals and setting targets and evaluating performance against agreed targets
• Ensure that the organisation complies with, and pursues its objects as defined by, its governing document, charity law, company law and any other relevant legislation or regulations
• Ensure that the organisation uses its resources exclusively in pursuance of its objectives: it must not spend money on activities, which are not included in its own objectives, no matter how worthwhile or charitable those activities are
• Safeguard the good name and values of the organisation
• Ensure the financial stability of the organisation and its sustainable growth
• Protect the assets of the organisation and to ensure the proper investment of its funds

There has never been a more exciting or important time to join the Board of St Andrew's, and there are a range of strategic opportunities for the Charity to harness to enable the realisation of its ambitions.

St Andrew’s Healthcare is seeking to appoint an exceptional Non-Executive Directors with backgrounds in estates management. They will play a vital role in ensuring good governance and supporting the Charity through the next phase of its growth and development.

The Charity is particularly interested in those who bring experience in strategic and operational estates management. They will have an understanding of estates strategy and ideally of the planning as well as delivery of a programme of refurbishments, repairs and maintenance.

Candidates will have advised, or operated at a senior level in, substantial organisations. They will appreciate the difference between the role of an executive and a non-executive, bringing a strategic mindset to the wide range of issues which come before the Board. On a personal level, they will be collaborative, committed to diversity and inclusion, and align with the mission and important work of St Andrew's.

Rt Hon Paul Burstow, Chair
Dawn Brodrick
Rupert Perry
Professor Stanton Newman
Andrew Lee
Ruth Bagley
Karen Turner
Stephen Shrubb
Dr Vivienne McVey, Chief Executive Officer
Dr Sanjith Kamath, Executive Medical Director
Martin Kersey, Managing Director of Education, Research and Training
Dawn Chamberlain, Chief Operating Officer
Kevin Mulhearn, Chief Finance Officer

You can find out more about the Board here.

This role is unremunerated, and reasonable, pre-agreed domestic travel expenses will be reimbursed. The Board meets six times per year in Northampton, with the occasional extra-ordinary meeting held when required, alongside membership of one of the Board Committees, which, on average, occur three times per year and meet virtually. Trustees also maintain knowledge and awareness of the Charity through undertaking ward or service visits at least two or three times per year.

Board meeting schedule:

19th January 2024: 9:30am - 1pm; 1.15pm - 3pm (Board meeting)

23 February 2024:11.00 am – 3.00 pm (Board Strategy / Development Day)

28th March 2024: 9:30am - 1pm; 1.15pm - 3pm (Board meeting)

The appointment is for a three-year term, which can be renewed at the discretion of the Board. Successful applicants will be subject to Occupational Health and Disclosure and Barring Service checks as well as the Fit and Proper Persons Requirement.

This organisation is based in Northampton and meetings will take place in person or virtually. Candidates will therefore be UK-based.

St Andrew’s Healthcare knows that diversity is one of its greatest strengths, contributing positively to its success and, most importantly, to the care provided for patients. There is significant evidence that when diversity practices and trust co-exist in an organisation, it increases employee engagement, staff feel valued and their wellbeing improves. With the healthcare system undergoing a period of significant change, ensuring a culture of inclusion is critical to being successful. The Charity's Diversity and Inclusion Plan is focused on achieving a Guiding Principle, as defined within the overarching ‘Our St Andrew’s People Plan’, to ‘respect difference and treat people as individuals’.

As a charity, St Andrew's takes great pride in its diversity and inclusion initiatives, and it is extremely proud of the results. It has a diverse workforce, where 64% of staff are female and almost a quarter of staff are from an ethnic minority background. A core pillar of the Diversity and Inclusion Plan is to ensure leadership diversity.

In 2023, St Andrew's welcomed a new female Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer to the Board of Directors and Executive Team. A key ambition is that it strives to ensure that the Board is as diverse as possible.