ON Friday morning, around 50 people from across the voluntary sector in Harlow and Essex gathered at the Latton Bush Centre to listen and engage with Thom Lafferty, Chief Executive Officer, Princess Alexandra Hospital Trust, and Amy Jackson, Deputy Director for Transformation and Integration, West Essex Health and Care Partnership.

Thom and Amy set out their shared vision for strengthening health, care and community support across Harlow, Epping Forest, and Uttlesford, with the voluntary, community, faith, and social enterprise (VCFSE) sector at the heart of this work.

They highlighted the need for a fundamental shift in how services are delivered locally, moving from a system that reacts to illness, to one that prevents it, supports people earlier, and works in partnership with communities.

Hospital CEO, Thom Lafferty, emphasised that the long‑term sustainability of acute services depends on a major “left shift,” saying: “If our population is going to stay well, we must work differently. That means stronger partnerships with the VCSE sector and ensuring that more support is provided closer to people’s homes, so the hospital can focus on delivering high‑quality acute care.”

Thom also confirmed that PAH’s involvement in the New Hospital Programme provides a significant opportunity to develop Neighbourhood Health, enabling services such as outpatients to move into community locations while core acute services remain on the new hospital site. PAH has already begun this shift by the planned relocation of blood testing services into the Harvey Centre, with further community‑based developments planned.

PAH is also working with Rainbow Services to create a single, streamlined interface with the VCSE sector, enabling the collective strengths of local organisations to benefit many more residents.

From a commissioning perspective, Amy Jackson set out how Neighbourhood Health will take shape locally. Amy described a future where residents experience earlier, more joined‑up help, saying “For most people, Neighbourhood Health won’t be a phrase they ever use. They’ll simply say things feel easier, they don’t get passed around, organisations talk to each other, and they get support before things reach crisis.”

Amy explained that West Essex is designing an integrated, preventative, community‑based model shaped around neighbourhoods, with Integrated Neighbourhood Teams bringing together GPs, community health, mental health, social care, and the VCSE to support residents proactively.

She also highlighted the significant inequalities across frailty, mental health, and long-term conditions, and stressed to the Forum: “The VCSE is essential to addressing these gaps. You reach people we don’t. You provide relational support in a way the statutory system can’t. And many of our most important strategic programmes in Harlow, Pride in Place, Volunteering for Health, the National Neighbourhood Health Programme, and the Sport England Place Partnership, already rely on VCSE leadership.”

• Thom and Amy concluded by offering clarity about what the sector can expect going forward:
• Closer partnership working with VCSE organisations as equal strategic partners.
• A move toward earlier involvement of VCSE groups in service design
• Increasingly devolved decision‑making and resources, supporting VCSE organisations to scale their impact.
• A focus on prevention, lived experience, community connection and supporting residents earlier in their journeys.

Thom and Amy responded to a range of questions which focused upon the challenges that local voluntary services and the community they serve, experience with the current system. These challenges were acknowledged and will inform the form and content of delivering their shared vision. The session closed with a commitment to continue building a model of care shaped with, and powered by, the community.

Sharon Summerfield, CEO at Rainbow Services told Your Harlow “It was great to be able to run our Voluntary Sector Forum today with Thom and Amy, our guest speakers from Princess Alexandra Hospital and the Integrated Care Board. There is a really positive opportunity here for the voluntary sector to take a leading role in supporting residents to improve their health and reduce health inequalities. Harlow’s Voluntary Sector is already amazing so what better place to start.”

The voluntary groups which included Harlow Foodbank, Integration Support, Employability, Razed Roof, and the Harlow Health Centres Trust, were joined by officers and staff from Harlow Council, Essex County Council, and the NHS. There was a great deal of networking taking place once the formal part of the Forum finished with many people saying they had made some important new contacts. Community partnerships that will play a vital role in shaping and delivering health and wellbeing services in Harlow and beyond, now and in the future.