Kranthi Mavuri

At university, my friends would tease me: “Are you an electrical engineer? You don’t seem like one.”

It was true: My degree was in electrical and electronics engineering, but I was more interested in computer science. Sometimes, I would skip my classes and go sit in on computer classes instead.

After graduation, I followed my interests and worked as a developer in the private sector for large multinational IT service companies, then into insurance services. My main role has always been as a database developer, but I’ve also worked as a system engineer and a business analyst.

I moved to the UK from India about 7 years ago. Soon after I arrived, I began working at the Health and Social Care Information Centre, one of NHS Digital’s predecessor organisations.

I’m currently working on the NHS Care Identity Service, which allows healthcare professionals to securely register and authenticate their identity before being issued a smartcard to access national clinical IT systems. By automating part of the process, we’re reducing the workload on NHS staff issuing smartcards by about half.

We were extremely busy during the coronavirus pandemic, when smartcards needed to be issued to thousands of NHS staff returning to the workforce. I was so proud to have played a role in fighting COVID-19.

Every year, I celebrate my work anniversary. I love working for the NHS, it is so service focussed. Everything we do is about trying to improve lives – both of patients and the healthcare professionals caring for them.