My 4th day at DHSC

This is a retropost. It was written contemporaneously in 2019 - but posted in 2024. I had just been seconded to the Department of Health and Social Care to help kick-start NHSX. I kept a diary of my time there - including working through COVID. As it has been 5 years, and I no longer work in Government, I thought I would publish interesting extracts from it.

My 4th day in a new job and I'm sat in a meeting with the Secretary of State.

I've been in rooms with CEOs. With celebrities. With politicians. But this is the first time I've faced someone this senior, discussing sensitive issues. It's a moment.

I'm in the room. I disassociate briefly. All of a sudden, I'm interrupting someone and making a surprisingly intelligent point. The SofS agrees with me and, seemingly, is impressed - carrying my point forward and referencing it towards the end of the meeting.

The poor chap next to me is getting eviscerated. He either doesn't know his brief - or is being deliberately evasive. The atmosphere is congenial - but there's an undercurrent of menace. The guy is floundering, and the SofS is... not exactly merciless, but lets the guy know he isn't falling for the patter.

I'm simultaneously glad I'm not in the firing line - and worried that I'll one day find myself out of my depth.

The meeting ends and I'm formally introduced. He seems pleased to have me on board - I'm just glad I didn't make a complete fool of myself. And mildly impressed that he actually knew what he was talking about when it came to the details of technology.

That evening, my Great Aunt Sonia dies - aged 90. She had been gently cared for by the NHS. And the work I'm doing suddenly feels a lot more viscerally real.