RESIDENTS with an interest in healthcare issues are being encouraged to join the Board of Hounslow Primary Care Trust.

The PCT is seeking a new non-executive director - and people who are interested in applying are invited to attend an information session at the Thelma Golding Health Centre on January 19, from 6pm onwards.

The board is responsible for the strategies and actions of all organisations within the Primary Care Trust - GP practices, hospitals, pharmacists, dentists, therapists and so on.

Non executive directors are lay people, drawn from the local community and accountable to the Secretary of State for Health.

Their role is to hold the executive to account and use their skills and experience to contribute to the development of health strategies that ensure high quality services to patients. They are expected to make sure that the interests of patients remain paramount.

A successful candidate will need to demonstrate a genuine interest in healthcare issues and a commitment to the needs of the local community, an ability to contribute effectively at board level.

Call Niall Fitzgerald, Head of Corporate Affairs, on 020 8321 2037.