Next week we will be welcoming Maya Anaokar, our new account manager to the ZPB team, which means that I will no longer be the newbie on Bermondsey Street. With this in mind, I sat down to reflect on my first three weeks as the ZPB intern.
A spare pair of hands won’t go idle for long in this small and busy team. And so it was, immediately after my first Monday morning ‘crunchy’ board meeting (think standing around a colourful black-board, not seated in a board room), I began coordinating the research participants for a digital health app endorsement programme for our client NHS England. It was great to see this work culminate last week as I watched the interviews take place, and hear healthcare staff on the front line discuss how important they thought the project was, and the great need for it to be done properly.
On joining ZPB, I was keen to learn more about the NHS and the evolving healthcare industry in the UK. I have not been disappointed. Offering research assistance across various ZPB projects, I have been exposed to numerous reports – from the potential benefits of home clinical healthcare services for relieving acute hospitals, to how the NHS can drive service improvement by minimising variation in procurement costs. Working on these projects has been interjected with a crash-course in event planning. I now keep a keen eye out for potential Cambridge Health Network (CHN) event venues whilst cycling across London- and, the newly established ZPB lunch-time running (aka runch) club!
After my first few weeks, I would describe ZPB as having high-energy and high standards. This combination makes for a great team that get work done, and have a good time doing it. We look forward to welcoming Maya next week.