The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust (PAHT) has launched a community ambassador programme to strengthen links with local residents and help inform the future planning and delivery of healthcare services.
The initiative forms part of the Trust's wider strategy to embed community engagement into service planning, with ambassadors acting as a link between the hospital and communities across Harlow, Epping Forest and East Hertfordshire.
Representatives from local voluntary organisations, faith groups and community networks will help raise awareness of hospital services while gathering feedback on local priorities and emerging health concerns.
The trust says this insight will inform future service planning and strengthen collaboration with the communities it serves.
The programme is being led by Anne Wafula Strike, Community Engagement and Partnerships Lead at PAHT, with ambassadors receiving training before taking up their roles.
"It's about building trust, fostering understanding and developing engagement and co-production of health and wellbeing activities," said Wafula Strike.
Ian Beckett, a long-standing volunteer and community advocate in Harlow, has become the trust's first community ambassador.
Additional ambassadors, including Herty Ama Twumwaa, founder of Community Embrace, are expected to join the programme in the coming months.
The programme forms part of PAHT's Rise Strategy 2026–2031, which sets out the trust's plans to strengthen partnerships with patients, local organisations and community groups while transforming healthcare services.
The engagement work also supports the trust's longer-term transformation programme, including plans for a new digitally enabled replacement hospital under the New Hospital Programme.
Following the Government's January 2025 reset, the scheme was placed in Wave 2, with construction expected to begin in 2032.
The Trust is continuing to develop the business case, planning application and land acquisition while working with the national New Hospital Programme team on standardised Hospital 2.0 designs and procurement.
