An advert put out by Worcestershire health and Care NHS trust asking for senior directors with ‘private sector’ experience had set alarm bells ringing in some quarters.

The trust had advertised the post of non-executive director who would “have a genuine commitment to patients and significant senior management experience gained in a large, complex private sector organisation”

Labour councillor Lyn Denham contacted the Worcester News to ask why the NHS body was looking for such expertise at a time when many are concerned that there were increasing plans to privatise the NHS.

But a spokeswoman for the trust, Fern Berry said there were no such motives.

She said: “We already have non-executive directors with a lot of experience of working in the NHS and working in the public sector.

“This advert was for a specific post as a non-executive director with private sector experience to make sure that we had a wide and diverse set of skills and experience on the board. It was specifically for this post only.”

Non-executive directors are generally people with experience who are appointed to advise a board of directors and hold it to account.