NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care are offering the exciting opportunity of paid 12 month placement jobs to undergraduate students studying numerate degrees, in their penultimate year (2nd year). Placements can be in either organization – successful applicants are allocated to teams depending on their skillsets and interests.

How many doctors and nurses do we need to recruit in order to meet healthcare demands in 5 years time?

Where should we invest in order to most efficiently meet demands on the National Health Service?

What is the best way to assess the performance of local areas in managing resources for healthcare provision?

Analysis helps to inform better decision making. With the healthcare system becoming increasingly stretched in terms of resources and the intense public scrutiny around such an emotive area as the nation’s health, the role of good quality analysis is now more important than ever.

Analysts within the NHS and DHSC work broadly across three work streams; Economics, Statistics and Operational Research. In practice, you may end up doing a little bit of everything.

Placements are analytically focused, and students will have the opportunity to apply the analytical techniques they have learned at university to real world problems affecting the health and care system.

Depending on the team you’re working in, typical activities include things like financial modelling in Excel, using statistics packages to test significance of results, producing interactive reports and dashboards, creating thematic maps and presenting and explaining data to non-technical audiences. 

Placements are based at one of two sites; London or Leeds, although regional offices may be considered where applicable. Placement students will have opportunities to travel, working with colleagues or attending events, to different offices around the country.