Ryan Lomax
Account Manager
Entry route
Health Informatics Apprenticeship
How I got into the role
I was previously working in a bank and decided that I wanted a change of career path. I had previously completed an A-level qualification in IT and thought that this would be a good route to follow. I saw an advert for the apprenticeship in a local paper and thought it was something different and a good opportunity to learn and obtain practical experience in the workplace. At the time, I didn’t know what the word ‘informatics’ actually meant so I did a little bit of research and found that it involved a mix of different IT skills which obviously would provide me with opportunities for learning across a number of different roles. As part of my apprenticeship, I completed a placement with a Merseyside healthcare team supporting the roll out of Choose and Book - a service that lets you choose your hospital or clinic and book your first appointment. I then completed a further placement in a GP practice supporting them with their data quality reviews. As a result of this experience, I was successful in securing my first NHS job as an Information Facilitator and worked across a number of different practices providing data quality and IT support.
What I do
I have now performed a number of different health informatics roles – starting off in data quality, IT training and then moved into project management. Today, I am working as an Account Manager for Informatics Merseyside working with six different NHS partner organisations managing our IT provision to them – ensuring they are receiving the services agreed as well as acting as an escalation point for any problems they may have.
The best bits
The best thing about working in the NHS has definitely been the variety of job roles and opportunities available to learn and develop. It’s also been great being able to meet and work with so many wonderful people along the way and crazy to think that when I started out all those years ago I was just a young apprentice with no idea of what I wanted to do!
