Meet the board
Healthwatch Birmingham Board
For details of upcoming Board meetings visit our Events page here. For Board minutes click here.
We’re always looking for people with a wide range of experience and backgrounds to become Non-Executive Directors on our Board. If you want to help us make a real difference to local health and social care click here to find out more.
Board
Richard Burden - Chair
Richard was previously Member of Parliament for Birmingham Northfield from 1992 to 2019. He served as a Shadow Minister and on several Select Committees including chairing the Commons Committee set up to scrutinise West Midlands affairs.
An experienced community leader, Richard drove initiatives to build community resilience in South West Birmingham during a time of deep social and economic challenges, including those related to the loss of car manufacturing at Longbridge.
Richard brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the role and a passion for helping the people of Birmingham and Solihull
Jasbir Rai - Company Secretary
Jas is responsible for the efficient administration of Healthwatch, ensuring compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements and for ensuring that decisions of directors are implemented.
Jas is the Deputy CEO of BVSC and has worked in the sector for 17 years and has been company secretary for BVSC for over 10 years. Jas has been involved with Healthwatch Birmingham from when it was first set-up and has a wealth of experience in supporting boards and in strategic financial management.
Dr Janet Bailey - Non-Executive Director
Janet was born in Birmingham and currently lives in Hamstead, which straddles Birmingham and Sandwell.
Janet is a highly skilled practitioner, educator, and researcher. She has been a Registered Nurse for over 40 years with practice experience across adult, learning disabilities and mental health and holds a strong record for teaching and innovative curriculum development, particularly to support practice learning for student nurses.
Janet brings to Healthwatch Birmingham and Healthwatch Solihull her experience of partnership working at clinical, operational and strategic level across health, social care, public services, independent and voluntary services, for which she has received commendations for outstanding organisational and leadership skills.
She has always been enthusiastic about the patient voice so is delighted to able to bring her experience to the role of Non-Executive Director at Healthwatch Birmingham and Healthwatch Solihull.
Ruby Dillon - Non-Executive Director
Ruby grew up in Tipton and studied Human Nutrition at Oxford Brookes University, followed by a role as a community health worker in Bradford. She then came to Birmingham as a researcher for the British Association of Social Workers before her first job as a health promotion officer in the NHS in 1989.
Ruby worked in varying roles in public health in the West Midlands for 25 years. In 2014, Ruby left the NHS to work in the voluntary sector in Birmingham gaining 5 years experience in commissioning and contract managing services with and for people with multiple complex needs.
More recently, Ruby returned to public health within a local authority initially as a Commissioner for Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking. Currently working as a Public Health Practitioner, she is active in implementing post covid recovery plans, supporting interventions targeting the cost of living crisis and ensuring the reduction of health inequalities and inequity is embedded into practice.
Ruby is dedicated and committed to supporting the reduction of inequalities and inequity within our health and social care systems and is delighted to be a Non-Executive Director of the Healthwatch Board where she will strive to ensure local people in Birmingham and Solihull have their voices heard.
Dr John James – Non-Executive Director
John was born in West Bromwich, graduated from University of Birmingham and has spent his working career in Staffordshire, living in Lichfield.
John currently works as the Medical Director for Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent STP. Prior to this he was a GP in Lichfield for 33 years, and held roles including Chair of South East Staffordshire and Seisdon Peninsular CCG, honorary lecturer at the University of Birmingham, examiner for The Royal College of GPs and civilian advisor to the Tri Services General Practice Education Committee
John has always been committed to the development of future health professionals, through his involvement with the training of undergraduates, postgraduates, GP Registrars, Advanced Nurse Practitioners and Allied Health Professionals
In his roles he has always championed the involvement of the citizen in decisions as regards their health care, be that with the individual or the wider population.
John is passionate about ensuring the citizen and patient voice is central to the planning, commissioning and delivery of health care. John set up his practice’s first patient participation group in the early 1980s, developed a citizen and patient council for the CCG he chaired and has worked closely with Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent Healthwatch in his role of STP Medical Director.
Marcus Parsons - Non-Executive Director
Marcus is an experienced leader within the health and social care sector and brings 25 years’ experience of tackling health and social care inequality through the provision of high-quality and compassionate service delivery.
Starting his career as a volunteer, he has worked across statutory and third sector organisations, mostly within the substance misuse sector. His passion is re-thinking how organisations deliver care through service user involvement and leadership. He has set up award-winning partnership services at a local and national level and advised the Norwegian and Swedish Health Ministries on developing similar treatment system models. As Deputy Director for a UK wide charity, he has advised the Home Office on tackling Child Sexual Exploitation and driven whole treatment system redesigns, characterised by genuine co-production with service users.
More recently he has worked within the private and third sector to help organisations show their wider societal impact.
A Birmingham resident, Marcus is delighted to bring his experience to the role of Non-Executive Director of the Healthwatch Board to ensure the voice of Birmingham and Solihull residents is at the forefront of tackling healthcare inequality at a time where the sector faces significant challenges.
Dr Peter Rookes - Non-Executive Director
Dr Peter Rookes is an experienced health service manager, educator and researcher, who has worked extensively in both the state and non-state sectors in the UK and overseas.
Peter most recently researched relationships between faith-based health providers and governments in developing countries. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Ramblers, with a special interest in the Walking for Health Programme.
Dr Rookes is a Non-Executive Director for Birmingham Voluntary Service Council and County International and Faiths Advisor for Birmingham Scouts. As Secretary for Birmingham Council of Faiths, he works to achieve cohesion between people of different faiths and promote the involvement of people of faith in civil society.
With the assistance of colleagues, Peter coordinates the annual Faiths for Fun for children, the twice yearly Faiths, Health and Wellbeing Seminars, and the Birmingham programme for National Interfaith Week.
Having worked in several developing countries, Peter is passionate that comprehensive healthcare should be available according to clinical need and free at the point of delivery, and there should be public involvement in making decisions about health service priorities.
Rosi Sexton - Non-Executive Director
Rosi studied maths at Cambridge and obtained a PhD in Computer Science from Manchester in 2003. Following a period of competing in professional sport, she developed an interest in healthcare leading to a change of career. She is currently working as an osteopath in Solihull.
Rosi was also a local councillor in Solihull from 2019 to 2023 and deputy chair of the Local Government Association's Community Wellbeing Board from 2021 to 2023. During this period she focused on the challenges currently facing our health and social care services, the need to address health inequalities and the importance of the patient voice in shaping how those services are delivered. She has a particular interest in mental health care, and has contributed to BSMHFT's Experts by Experience programme and Solihull's mental health strategy.
Tim Phillips - Volunteer Board Representative
Tim Joined Birmingham City Council Older Adults section in 1994 post qualification as a Social Worker and spent 23 years as a practitioner and Assistant Manager leaving the council in December 2017. In the years of being a practitioner with the City Tim has been able to build a wealth of experience in terms of statutory service delivery and is familiar with some of the real and perceived barriers citizens hold of the role of social workers and the assessment process.
Tim has experience in the voluntary sector as chair of the Disability Resource Centre since 2004 and has been able to understand the difficulties disabled people have to overcome in all aspects community engagement and access to health, education, and employment and training. Recognising disabled citizens of Birmingham and wider West Midlands ongoing struggle for equality of access to all aspects of community engagement Tim has also broadened his voluntary activities in the community.
Some of Tim’s other voluntary activities include, Birmingham City Council’s Citizens Voice, Healthwatch Birmingham, Birmingham University Hospitals NHS trust which includes membership of Heartlands hospital site action group. Also membership of DMR company’s Children’s services as a Lay person on their fostering panel.