Bernard qualified in Medicine from Birmingham University in 1980. After seven years working in hospital medicine, completing the MRCP and working in clinical research, he joined the West Midlands training scheme in Public Health Medicine.

Between 1991 he was Consultant, and subsequently Director Public Health in Birmingham and Leicestershire, where he was also Deputy CEO of Leicestershire Health.

From 2002-2005 he was the first CEO of Shropshire and Staffordshire Strategic Health Authority, and from 2005 to 2011 was inaugural CEO of the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement. His interest in service improvement and in medical leadership goes back to undergraduate days, when he completed two periods of elective study at McMaster University Medical Centre, in Hamilton Ontario, often regarded as the birthplace of Evidence Based Medicine. Whilst training in Public Health Medicine he worked part-time at Aston Business School, developing programmes of management education for clinicians.

He has held honorary academic titles in the Universities of Birmingham, Leicester and Warwick, and was awarded an Honorary DSc from the University of Lincoln in 2007. He has lectured and published in the fields of health policy, public health and healthcare improvement. He has chaired and served on a wide range of bodies and committees in healthcare, and has contributed to many national and international conferences and academic meetings.

In addition to his work with WMS he has been appointed Chair of the Central and Eastern region of the Consumer Council for Water from February 2013.