Peter Bower was born and bred in the North East and is married with 2 sons. Throughout Peter’s career, however, he has enjoyed working in many parts of the country.

He had a 30-year general management career in the NHS covering: primary, secondary and tertiary care. Spent 7 years as a director of commissioning for research and development on behalf of the Department of Health. Peter retrained as a secondary maths teacher at the age of 57, taught but moved via the education arm of the Probation Service to become probation services officer.

Since retraining he spent 5 years with Healthwatch, 2 as chair. Governor and lead governor for Northumbria Trust, where he is currently a lay representative, acting when required as a critical friend to everything the Trust does. He is also a governor for Newcastle University Hospitals NHS Trust.

Since 2023 Peter has been a member of NICE’s People and Communities Network and one of 2 original members selected to be part of the People and Communities Leadership Group. He has also served as a public member of a NICE technical committee.

Peter added further public involvement in the NHS by becoming an independent member of a research steering committee for The Healthcare Services Institute and a patient, carer and public involvement partner with Sunderland University, involved in the training and development of nurses and allied health professionals.