A message from Colin Lynch, Chair, and Mairead McCormick, Chief Executive

A strong foundation for neighbourhood health

As Colin joins us as our new Chair, there is a great deal happening across health and care in Kent and Medway, and much to be optimistic about.

Today, NHS England announced that KCHFT has been selected to begin assessment as part of the next wave of the NHS Advanced Foundation Trust programme.

This follows sustained high performance as a Segment 1 organisation in the NHS Oversight Framework, with KCHFT currently ranked as the highest-performing community trust in the country. It reflects the commitment and achievement of our colleagues and, importantly, the strength of the partnerships we have built with you.

What excites us most is not the recognition itself, but what it could enable us to achieve together.

The NHS 10 Year Health Plan sets out a clear ambition to shift more care from hospitals into communities, with neighbourhood health at the centre of how services are designed and delivered. That ambition depends on strong partnerships between community services, primary care, mental health services, hospitals, local authorities, the voluntary sector and local communities themselves. We believe Kent and Medway is well placed to help lead that change.

The real opportunity is to go further and faster in strengthening neighbourhood health, reducing inequalities and improving outcomes for the people and communities we serve.

It feels particularly timely that this announcement comes just weeks after every GP practice in Kent and Medway signed up to the Single Neighbourhood Health Offer. That represents a major milestone for neighbourhood health and demonstrates the shared commitment across our system to delivering more joined-up, locally focused care. Together, these developments give real momentum to changes that many of us have been working towards for a long time.

NHS England has also approved the integration of Medway Community Healthcare into KCHFT from 1 October, subject to completion of the Business Transfer Agreement. Following integration, we will begin aligning our teams around Kent and Medway's 45 neighbourhoods and nine multi-neighbourhoods, helping us organise services more closely around the needs of local people and the communities they live in.

None of this can be achieved by any one organisation alone. The progress we have made has been built on partnership, trust and a shared commitment to improving the health and wellbeing of local people.

We would like to thank all of our partners for the role you have played in helping us reach this point. If successful, Advanced Foundation Trust status would give us greater freedom to build on the strong foundations already in place and accelerate the development of neighbourhood health across Kent and Medway.

Together, we have the chance to go further and faster in improving health, reducing inequalities and building a stronger, more connected health and care system for the future.

Colin Lynch
Chair

Mairead McCormick
Chief Executive Officer