COMMISSIONING
From lived experience to
LEADERSHIP
Even with the best intentions, harnessing lived experience can often mean asking people to‘ step into our world, speak our language’ says Jordon Field. Here she describes how her organisation is helping to redefine commissioning in Essex
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n 2017, Ben Hughes, head of public health at Essex County Council, recognised a critical gap in how drug and alcohol services were being shaped across the county. He believed local authorities needed to go beyond simply gathering feedback – they needed to meaningfully embed the voices of lived experience into every level of service design and delivery.
‘ While I could sit in my office and make decisions about where to spend my budgets – and base them on the best knowledge available – it was never going to be based on actual experience,’ Ben reflected.
Determined to change the system, Ben proposed a bold new approach: a commissioning model built with lived experience at its core. With the support of Essex County Council, this radical vision became a reality – and the Essex Recovery Foundation was born.
PEOPLE POWER Essex Recovery Foundation is a pioneering charity dedicated to building a visible recovery community in Essex. Our mission is to use the voices of those with lived experience to influence how services function and to change perceptions of addiction and recovery. Through this innovative approach, we’ re aiming to make Essex a place where recovery is celebrated and supported.
‘ The essence of Essex Recovery Foundation is simple: put the power to shape and commission drug and alcohol services into the hands of those who use them,’ said Nathan Marsh, our chair.‘ Too often, when we seek feedback from service users, we ask them to step into our world, speak our language, and then draw conclusions from small sample sizes. Even with the best intentions, this approach rarely cultivates meaningful change or community ownership. We believe there’ s a better way – one that delivers better outcomes for everyone involved.’
This belief is already starting to influence real change. In partnership with Essex County Council, Essex Recovery Foundation has led a transformative shift in the commissioning of drug and alcohol services, and the Psychosocial Alcohol Intervention and Recovery Service( PAIRS) and Community Rehabilitation contracts became the first to be re-tendered using this lived experience-led model.
NEEDS ASSESSMENT The process began with a rigorous needs assessment carried out by our team of community researchers, all of
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