Businessman and NHS executive Frank Collins from Idlicote honoured with an OBE for services to healthcare
A BUSINESSMAN and NHS executive who has spent a lifetime working in healthcare has been awarded an OBE.
Frank Collins, pictured, from Idlicote, was given the honour for services to healthcare and the National Health Service by the Princess Royal at Windsor Castle on Wednesday (8th March).
Mr Collins, who held a number of senior public and private sectors roles, was included in the final birthday honours list of the late Queen Elizabeth II.
Mr Collins, who attended the ceremony with his wife Sally-Anne, son Josh and his partner Sarah, said: “I am immensely honoured to have received it. From start to
finish it was absolutely fabulous and an experience that will stay with us for the rest of our days.”
He added that it was not until they had been ushered into the castle and escorted through a series of state rooms that it was revealed who would be conducting the ceremony. Mr Collins said he spent about five minutes in the company of the Princess Royal who he found “incredibly warm, personable, and very well informed”.
“She knew exactly why I was there which was very impressive,” he said. “She enquired about my time as an NHS chairman, and we spoke a little about the unprecedented challenges of coping with a global pandemic. She was engaging and it was a pleasure to share a few minutes with her and to discuss the NHS as well as touch on my roles in private equity.”
Mr Collins, who was born in Coventry, started his career as an administrator in the NHS and worked his way up to hold several chief executive roles at various NHS trusts. He stepped down from being chairman of the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital, Oswestry, in January last year after helping guide the trust through the Covid pandemic.
He has also been chief executive of several life sciences and medical devices businesses.
He said: “Receiving this award for my contribution to healthcare, and particularly the NHS, is an extremely proud event in my life as it acknowledges the challenges faced by the NHS during the Covid pandemic and the unbelievable hard work and commitment demonstrated by NHS staff and countless others up and down the country.”
