"I’m always learning new skills and am now studying towards a business analysis diploma."

Health informatics was an obvious career choice for me as  I wanted to work for the NHS and also had experience of analytics and statistics. After graduating, I applied for the NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme. I was really pleased to get a place as it is highly competitive.

I spent two years on the scheme experiencing health informatics in different settings. My first year was spent in information analysis at the Leeds and York Partnerships Foundation Trust. It involved developing and delivering intelligence for senior colleagues and doctors that showed local trends in mental healthcare and identified areas for service improvement.

Between NHS placements, I got to experience the private sector at a company offering services to the NHS. It offered the chance to work in a commercial setting as a market analyst and research how the company's products were perceived by the health service.

For the final year, I joined the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) as a Business Analyst. I worked on a project establishing a new service collecting and disseminating post-operative patient survey information nationally. I really enjoyed being involved in the creation and improvement of systems and services and knew that business analysis was the career for me.

After completing the scheme, I took a full-time post at HSCIC (now NHS Digital) as a Higher Business Analyst gaining more responsibility and autonomy. NHS Digital values professional development, so I’m always learning new skills and am now studying towards a business analysis diploma.

Informatics is critical to forging a sustainable NHS. In my current role, I am able to design services and build tools that provide the health sector with intelligence to drive efficiency and improve outcomes.  I get great satisfaction from seeing something I helped create be so important to patient care.