Bishop Kenneth has been admitted to hospital after he was diagnosed again with leukaemia.

Bishop Kenneth

He was undergoing a routine hospital check-up on Monday (June 19) when doctors discovered his leukaemia had returned. He went into hospital for further tests and was admitted to hospital for treatment.

He is likely to undergo two separate courses of chemotherapy over the summer before doctors reassess his condition. Each course of chemotherapy – including both the treatment and the recovery time – takes four weeks, so he will be off work for at least the next two months.

The bishop was previously diagnosed with leukaemia last September and went through four courses of chemotherapy before returning to work just before Easter. Although the disease was said to be “in remission”, there was always a chance that it could return.

His appointments for the next two months are being cancelled and his diary is now closed for the forseeable future. The Rt Rev Trevor Willmott, the Anglican Bishop of Basingstoke, has agreed to preside at diocesan synod – the diocese’s major decision-making body – this Saturday (June 24). He will also conduct ordination services in Portsmouth Cathedral on both July 1 and 2. Bishop Trevor also took over some of the bishop’s work while Kenneth was on sick leave between September 2005 and April 2006. The bishop’s other responsibilities will be handled by his senior staff – the archdeacons, dean of the cathedral, diocesan secretary and bishop’s chaplain.

The bishop and his family would welcome the prayers of churchgoers and others, but won’t be able to receive visitors for the forseeable future. Well-wishers are also asked not to send flowers, as they carry a risk of infection.

Bishop Kenneth has been Bishop of Portsmouth – a diocese that includes 142 parishes in south-east Hampshire and the Isle of Wight – since 1995. He sits in the House of Lords and is the chairman of the Church of England’s national Board of Education.

Click here to listen online or download the interview that Bishop Kenneth gave to BBC Radio Solent after his recovery from leukaemia in the spring.