 Kennedy was a member of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics 1991–2002 and Chair during 1998–2002.Kennedy is a trustee of homeless health charity Pathway.He chaired the public inquiry into children's heart surgery at the Bristol Royal Infirmary (1998–2001), which concluded that paediatric cardiac surgery services at Bristol were "simply not up to the task", because of shortages of key surgeons and nurses, and a lack of leadership, accountability, and teamwork.