Our Chair, Phil Turner
Phil was born in Leighton Buzzard in 1948, a month after the NHS was founded. He grew up there with his parents, older sister, and brother, attending local schools before joining the Royal Air Force at 17 as an electronics apprentice at RAF Locking. During his 10 years in the RAF, he served at airfields across England, Scotland, and Germany during the Cold War.
With a passion for space, Phil joined the European Space Agency in the Netherlands after leaving the RAF. A career highlight was working at Cape Canaveral on a 1977 satellite launch—three months in Cocoa Beach and visits to Disney World added to the experience.
Returning to the UK, he settled in Luton and worked in international sales for the print and publishing sector, spending time in Switzerland and Canada. More recently, he has provided management consultancy to both public and private organisations, focusing on morale, customer satisfaction, and operational improvement.
Phil enjoys golf, (bad) Bridge, cooking, and international travel, particularly exploring different cuisines and cultures.
Now Chair of Healthwatch Luton, Phil says:
“I’m delighted to take on this role after two years as a volunteer. Healthwatch is the voice of health service users and should be a recognised name in every household. It supports, guides, and challenges services to improve—and equally highlights what’s working well. Health providers face real challenges, and we all have a role in helping ensure people get the care they deserve. Our expectations must remain fair and realistic. Our volunteers are the backbone of Healthwatch. Their dedication drives our work, and I aim to support and grow this committed team to meet future demands. I look forward to my time as Chair and will do all I can to help Healthwatch thrive.
Our Board
Stephanie Power, Board Director
Stephanie became a Board member for Healthwatch Luton because she has a passion for health care and Healthwatch Luton is a means to an end. Stephanie started as a Champion volunteer of Healthwatch Luton, because she wanted patients to be listened to, as they are the ones who know what needs to change but may not know how to get this to happen.
Stephanie feels that Luton needs and wants to have a great health and social care service, and that the people of Luton need to know how to access these services and who to contact when things go wrong, and are not left in limbo. Stephanie wants to get Healthwatch Luton known to the community so that the organisation can help guide them to the appropriate services that they need.
Cassandra Avis, Board Director
Cassie became a Board member after volunteering for Healthwatch Luton for over 10 years - since being a sixth form student - to keep up with what is going on in Luton regarding health and social care.
She cares greatly about making sure we are asking the questions no one else wants to ask, and making sure everyone considers young people who we may not usually hear from.
She spends her spare time gathering views at targeted engagements, enter and views, mental health project and represented us at numerous boards and meetings.
Past Board papers
You can access papers from our past board meetings online, along with a summary of what was discussed.
Browse our past papers to find out more.