Richmond House, the Department of Health's headquarters in Whitehall.
Improving the Health and Social Well Being of the Nation
How many jobs are you considering where you will be part of an organisation:
- Responsible for the stewardship of the NHS and public health system - with a yearly public expenditure of over £100billion and a million employees?
- That can affect the quality of life of every individual in England?
This is the opportunity the Department of Health (DH) can offer you, at a time when the provision of
health care and social services is being improved, reorganised and modernised through new bodies, policies and practices.
Operational Research in the Department of Health
The goal of OR analysts in the DH and its associated agencies and public bodies is to help managers and policy makers make better decisions, take surer actions to improve the health and social care system. We use quantitative and qualitative approaches, system simulation, scenario analysis and other techniques to support problem solving. We are active in a wide range of high-profile projects, for example on work to:
- Deliver primary health care in new ways (for instance, NHS 111)
- Estimate the number of people who might become ill in a flu pandemic, and the knock-on impacts on the health service
- Make a case for increased funding for health and adult social caree, advise how money should be distributed between different areas and determine how best to live within slower funding growth.
- Analyse the best ways of funding Cancer care
- Analyse the NHS pay bill and estimate how much it will change in coming years
- Horizon scanning medium-to-long term health issues
- Develop scenarios for tackling obesity
- Modelling alternative methods of funding Social Care
- Assess the effectiveness of different vaccination strategies
- Developing and delivering analytical tools to facilitate and inform management decisions
- Drive essential reforms through the healthcare system, for example Cavendish and Francis reviews and subsequent ‘compassionate care’ reforms
- Close working with Treasury to shape Spending Reviews that will shape the future NHS workforce
- Ensure the NHS workforce can provide for national demand in terms of number and skillset
- Assess financial ability to support and develop new and existing doctors and nurses and develop subsequent policy
What to Expect
The DH Operational Research service comprises approximately 50 specialists who provide analytical support to policy colleagues. We work in multidisciplinary analytical teams, with economists, statisticians and social researchers, distributed between different teams in DH and its associated bodies such as NHS England. Roughly half of us are based in London, with the other half in Leeds. We work in collaboration with policy colleagues, university researchers and other external bodies. Staff are encouraged and assisted to develop their professional and other skills throughout their career.
