Interview with Pam Donnelly Essex Caring Communities Commission

What might help people live better lives? https://www.linkedin.com/posts/antlerboy_what-might-help-people-live-better-lives-activity-7373624774264037377--n_7 If you were asked to be a member of a Caring Communities Commission — if you could change one thing tomorrow to make prevention the default rather than the exception, what would you change? (And what would be the unintended consequences you were willing to accept?)

What might help people live better lives?

We keep saying ‘move from crisis to prevention’ — but in Essex that is really happening. I’ve just recorded a short conversation with Pamela Donnelly about the Essex Caring Communities Commission, set up to hard-wire community power into health and care so fewer people fall into crisis in the first place. It’s not just another report — they’ve set out it’s a practical playbook for relational public services, suited for their place.

We all know that demand is outpacing capacity; no amount of tinkering with efficiency in resource allocation or processes will fix that. The Commission focuses on the upstream conditions that keep people well and connected — the stuff only communities can produce — and then aligns the system around it. That’s real leadership: changing what we count and how we commission, not just adding new projects.

The examples are really concrete:

- An Office of Prevention to shift budgets and rules upstream

- multi-agency ‘front doors’ so people don’t bounce between services

- a Library of Things that saves money and builds neighbourliness

- an Essex Retirement Service that helps people plan for and enjoy later life

- school-readiness taskforces that reduce later demand.

Each is small enough to start now and big enough to matter — the essence of innovation that actually spreads.

And it’s relational by design. It moves from doing to, to doing with, funds capability and connection, and uses place intelligence to prioritise. It dovetails with devolution so the governance is there to sustain it — less heroism, more habit. If we want a future NHS and social care that work, we have to grow supply at source: participation, trust, mutual aid. That’s the real productivity play for the public sector and community, not KPIs or league tables or moving the deckchairs.

Great to see this really grounded stuff happening.

Pam was an enthusiastic member of the commission — a long video link is in the comments.

If you were asked to be a member — if you could change one thing tomorrow to make prevention the default rather than the exception, what would you change? (And what would be the unintended consequences you were willing to accept?)

We keep saying ‘move from crisis to prevention’ — but in Essex that is really happening. I’ve just recorded a short conversation with Pamela Donnelly about the Essex Caring Communities Commission, set up to hard-wire community power into health and care so fewer people fall into crisis in the first place. It’s not just another report — they’ve set out it’s a practical playbook for relational public services, suited for their place.

A quick overview of Essex Caring Communities

What it is?

An independent, cross-sector commission sponsored by Essex County Council to design a ‘preventative, community-powered’ shift in health and care — set up in 2024, chaired by Cllr Beverley Egan, with 11 commissioners including NHS, VCS, local government and academia — culminating (so far) in a May 2025 report with 23 practical actions. (MSE Integrated Care System, Essex County Council)

Why it matters

• Unsustainable demand: The Commission’s diagnosis is that firefighting has become the norm; capacity and affordability won’t hold without moving upstream. (MSE Integrated Care System)
• Action, not another think-piece: The report commits to 23 actions across five commitments (Places, Work, Civil Society, Community Influence, Prevention) — e.g., an Office of Prevention, multi-agency triage hubs, a Library of Things, School Ready Taskforces, an Essex Retirement Service, and a 50+ labour-market task force. (MSE Integrated Care System)
• Whole-system leverage: It’s designed to dovetail with Greater Essex devolution and the proposed Mayoral Combined County Authority, so the actions have governance and powers to land. (MSE Integrated Care System)
• Focused on community needs: Work is framed through four lenses — Healthy, Connected, Inclusive, Empowered communities — grounded in a Community Needs Index for prioritisation. (Essex County Council)
• External partnership: Organisations like the RSA are lining up support — useful signal of momentum and wider learning. (The RSA)

The role it plays in relational public services

• From ‘doing to’ → ‘doing with’: Shifts power and resources closer to people and places; grows civic capacity (volunteering, community assets, peer support) rather than only expanding statutory throughput. (MSE Integrated Care System)
• Multi-disciplinary by default: The hubs, apprenticeships, housing board, and school-readiness taskforces are practical containers for cross-boundary work — classic relational infrastructure. (MSE Integrated Care System)
• Commissioning the conditions: The proposed Office of Prevention and commitments across ‘Place/Work/Civil Society’ signal a commissioning shift from purchasing episodes of care to stewarding capabilities and networks. (MSE Integrated Care System)

Video link

And also the transcript link: https://otter.ai/u/1TKz3RTKo42k5-k_pgZuuolThfA?utm_source=copy_url