Ex-No 10 adviser and management consultant appointed ICS lead

Dr James Kent will lead the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West ICS as well as taking on the role of accountable officer of the three clinical commissioning groups on the patch.

He was health advisor to Ms May until July last year when she resigned. He previously worked for management consultancy firm, Boston Consulting Group.

He replaces Fiona Wise, who has been the interim ICS leader since March 2019 and lead officer of the Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire CCGs. He also takes on Dr Cathy Winfield’s role. She had been Berkshire West CCG’s accountable officer since 2013.

Dr Winfield also led the Berkshire West ICS, which was one of the original eight announced by Sir Simon Stevens in June 2017. It joined the wider system in June 2019.

Dr Kent starts his role next week.

Dr Winfield is moving to a strategy role for the national primary care team. It is not clear whether Ms Wise is moving to a new role.

David Clayton-Smith, independent chair of the ICS, said: “I look forward to working with [Dr Kent] as we continue our joint health and care effort to combat covid-19 and develop plans to help our local communities as we address the impact of this unprecedented situation.”

Dr Abid Irfan, clinical chair of Berkshire West CCG, said Dr Winfield had always been “ahead of the national curve and successfully led Berkshire West to becoming one of the first ICS in the country”.