I'm responsible for medicines policy within the Department of Health and Social Care. This involves leading on parliamentary business, advising Ministers and the Secretary of State, and referring new medicines to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). NICE is an independent body responsible for advising the NHS on which medicines it should routinely fund. I hold NICE to account as the Government sponsor and assist with its governance functions such as annual business planning and accounts.

There's no such thing as a typical day in medicines policy and I love that every week looks entirely different from the last! I was recently involved in progressing the Medicines and Medical Devices Bill (now Act) through Parliament and have been directly involved in judicial review hearings. These were challenging areas of work and involved working closely with Ministers and lawyers. Another strand of the job is policy development and driving forward Government priorities, including its manifesto commitments. I am currently working with NICE and NHS England on the development of an innovative medicines fund (a 2019 manifesto commitment) and am also working closely with NICE on its methods review. The other side of the job is governance and ensuring NICE is accountable to Parliament on its performance and spending, and the parliamentary side of things such as responding to enquiries from MPs and briefing Ministers for parliamentary debates.

After graduating I spent some time volunteering with a Sheffield based charity - Irise - to gain an insight into how the charity sector drives forward change in Government policy. This gave me an opportunity to experience the inner workings of a Board and I'd highly recommend time with a charity organisation to anyone in a position to volunteer. I did this alongside working in the hospitality sector until I found my current role.

I see myself staying within the civil service - probably health, but may move to education - and working through the grades. Im also planning to return to University to undertake a masters in the next couple of years and have the full support of my line manager to do this alongside my job!

Network! LinkedIn is a great way to chat to people already in the job and Ive found people are always happy to help. Feel free to drop me a message!