Les Williams

Les was born in Quinton, Birmingham and now lives in Cradley Heath. He graduated with honours in English from the University of Leicester in 1977, and began working in NHS management, a career that lasted for thirty nine years until his retirement in 2016.  

Les ‘s career in hospital management included working at Birmingham Accident Hospital, Birmingham Children’s Hospital, Dudley Road (now City) Hospital, and Selly Oak Hospital as hospital manager. He then undertook more strategic roles at Director level, in Birmingham and then the Black Country, at Dudley Group of Hospitals, in contracting and information, performance management and strategy, including setting up a Council of Governors for this trust’s Foundation Trust status application. In 2008, Les became Programme Director for Right Care Right Here, a service transformation programme in Sandwell and West Birmingham, which developed a range of community based services and facilities as an alternative to hospital based care. After working at the Black Country PCT Cluster during the 2012 re-organisation, Les became Director of Operations and Delivery for the NHS England Area Team for Birmingham, Solihull and the Black Country. His final role in the NHS was as Director of Performance and Delivery for Birmingham Cross City CCG, commissioning services for three quarters of the population of Birmingham.  

Alongside his work in the NHS, Les was a Governor for eleven years at Halesowen College of Further Education, and was Chair for the last five of these, until 2016. On his retirement, Les undertook family care and developed a keen interest in the local history of Birmingham and its prominent citizens, whether native or adopted, resulting in the publication of his first book.  

Les is delighted to have joined the Board of Directors at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in April 2021, and tries to use his experience of strategy, performance, service re-design and public engagement to help the organisation to meet the challenges of continuing to deliver exceptional quality of care in innovative ways. Les is a member of the Finance and Performance and Audit Committees and is passionate about ensuring performance is used to create better outcomes for patients in a supportive environment for staff, governors and volunteers.