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NHS Kent and Medway Chief Executive Paul Bentley is leaving his post this autumn.

Paul, who has been at NHS Kent and Medway since its inception in July 2022, has a strong track record of delivering across his career, from being named as named as one of the top 50 NHS chief executives in the country by the Health Service Journal in 2021, to taking Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust to being rated as 'outstanding' by the Care Quality Commission in 2019, when he was chief executive.

While leading the ICB - which pays for healthcare services for two million people in Kent and Medway and has an annual budget of more than £4.75billion - Paul has been instrumental in improvements to local healthcare planning and delivery.

These include:

• being a key partner in Kent and Medway's integrated care system, building relationships with those partners and supporting development of an integrated care strategy to tackle issues affecting health (the wider determinants of health)
• leading development of an NHS strategy for Kent and Medway, bringing together organisations to work more closely together to improve the health of the population, the first time across the county this has been the case
• consistently delivering on ambulance handover times
• improving levels of patient satisfaction in GP services by five per cent in the past two years and agreed NHS investment in the healthy living centre for Chatham of more than £13million, enabling the new centre to go live next year.
• appointing a lead provider for community health services across Kent and Medway to support better integration of services and provide more care close to home
• awarding a contract to provide integrated all-age mental health services to a single provider to improve the transition from children to adults' services
• driving financial sustainability as the NHS tackles significant financial challenges.

Paul said: “This has been an extremely challenging role, but one to which I have always been fully committed. We, as an ICB, exist to improve the health and healthcare for our population and we have always strived to do that and will continue to do so as integrated care boards become a strategic commissioner and convenor of the NHS system.

“As we go into the next chapter to deliver the NHS 10-year plan, and following the announcement of chairs for ICBs across the south east for the next three years; there is a justifiable expectation that ICB chief executives will also commit for a further three to five years.

“I do not feel I am able to commit to such a period and, as such, feel it is right to step away. I live apart from my family during the week to enable me to do the role and I am very much looking forward to being at home all week. 

“I would like to say thank you to every member of NHS staff in Kent and Medway for all they do every day, but particularly to the teams at the ICB. I am looking forward to the next stage of my life and to giving more time and space to things outside of my professional life.''

A process to appoint a new chief executive will begin shortly.

Chair Cedi Frederick said: “Paul has made a significant and positive impact during his time as chief executive at NHS Kent and Medway, and I would like to thank him for all he has done. He has always demonstrated a commitment to improving outcomes for our communities and I wish him the best for his future.''

Paul's NHS career started in 1987, working in London teaching hospitals before being appointed to his first main board role in 1998.