Neil Tester has been a trustee of Healthwatch Hertfordshire since 2021 and became Chair in 2023. Healthwatch Hertfordshire is the county’s independent, statutory health and social care champion. Its role is to make sure NHS and council leaders and other decision-makers hear people’s voices and use public feedback to shape strategies and improve the delivery of care.
Neil’s professional experience spans the health and social care and voluntary sectors, including as Director of the Richmond Group of national health charities, Deputy Director of Healthwatch England, Head of Federation Development at Relate and Director of Communications and Marketing at the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy. He has been a member of a range of national policy boards and was Deputy Chair of the External Advisory Forum for the General Medical Council’s review of its Good Medical Practice Guidance.
Neil has a long-standing interest in the potential of integrated health, care and wellbeing approaches to address people’s consistently-expressed needs. He is especially interested in how this relates to health and other inequalities and the experiences of people living with multiple, long-term physical and mental health conditions.