Dr John Beal

Role: Healthwatch Representative

John is Chair of Healthwatch Leeds.  He is a retired NHS Consultant in Dental Public Health who undertook work at local, regional and national level.  He was also active in wider public health issues including membership of the Board of the Faculty of Public Health, Treasurer of the UK Public Health Association and Chair of the national charity No Smoking Day.  He spent the first decade after qualifying as a dentist in academia at Birmingham Dental School before moving to the NHS whilst retaining an honorary University Senior Lectureship.  In his PhD he investigated the benefits of water fluoridation in Birmingham and also the association between various social factors, including ethnicity, and oral health.  He continues to have a strong commitment to person centred health and care services and reducing inequalities.

John has held a number of elected positions at all levels of the Church of England, including being a former member of its General Synod.  He has an interest in researching medieval ecclesiastical history and gives talks on this topic.  He has three adult children and lives in northeast Leeds with his wife and one of his daughters and enjoys pottering in his garden.