Region loses three ICB CEOs in two weeks

An integrated care board chief executive is to retire after 28 years as an NHS CEO — and becomes the third in the Midlands to announce their departure in the space of two weeks. 

John Turner will retire from Lincolnshire ICB in June. He has held the role since the ICB was established in 2022, and was previously the accountable officer of clinical commissioning groups in Lincolnshire.

Staffordshire ICB CEO Peter Axon and Leicestershire’s Caroline Trevithick  have also both announced their retirement in the past two weeks.

ICB CEOs in South West London, Gloucestershire, and Cheshire and Merseyside are also due to leave in the next few months. South West London is the only one so far to announce a successor.

In a note to staff, chair Gerry McSorley said Mr Turner had spent more than 35 years in management and leadership in the NHS in England and Scotland, including 28 years in CEO roles across trusts, health boards and commissioning groups.

Mr McSorley said he was “in discussion with NHS England regarding the steps to be taken to recruit John’s successor”.

The ICB was removed from the bottom rung of NHSE’s intervention regime in December 2023, after years of operational and financial challenges. Its main provider, United Lincolnshire Hospitals, ended a long period in special measures the previous year.

Mr Turner said of his departure: “With our patients, population, workforce and partners at our heart, we have overcome some very significant challenges and developed a strong and effective integrated care system with many examples of good practice, innovation, investment and transformation across our county.

“It will be hard to say goodbye, and I would like to thank my colleagues for all the generous support which they have given me in the past years. I’m very proud of the NHS in the county, which is well placed to embrace the challenges ahead and to continue to improve and develop services for the benefit of the people of Lincolnshire.”