Our Board

Dr Keith Judkins, Board Chair

My journey with Healthwatch Cornwall began in October 2023 working as a community volunteer. I joined the Board of Directors in September 2023 and was elected to the Chair role in May 2024.

My background is in healthcare as a consultant anaesthetist, with additional responsibilities first as clinical director for a regional specialty service (care of patients with major burns) and later as medical director for my NHS Trust; this management role involved engagement with community services including primary care. For a while, I was also seconded part time to the national NHS to provide a secondary care perspective on the development of appraisal for doctors. 

Since retiring to Cornwall nine years ago, I have of course seen the NHS from an entirely different perspective, as a service user, and it’s been an eye-opener. The challenge for me was to find a way to make a difference using my clinical and management experience, but also my new insights as an ordinary resident of Cornwall. To that end, I serve as a lay representative for Penwith Primary Care Network and as a member of my GP practice’s patient participation group (PPG), as well as a board member for Healthwatch Cornwall. 

Healthwatch Cornwall is the voice of all of us to healthcare providers, not just my voice; to serve on its board is a privilege I take seriously. We want to make a difference to how healthcare systems respond to the needs and concerns of the people of Cornwall. It is my aim to help that happen in any way I can.