For Taghred Alghaith (PhD Management Science, 2013), tackling the challenges that face the healthcare system in Saudi Arabia requires all the skills she picked up at Lancaster University.

As Director General for National Health Economics and Policies in the Saudi Health Council, Taghred must plan long-term and short-term strategies and design policies to improve people’s quality of life and health standards. Healthcare reforms are a major focus of the Saudi government, and Taghred is involved in this important work.

It is no easy task. But in Lancaster University Management School, Taghred built a wealth of research skills and knowledge that mean she is well-placed to inform decision-makers in order to improve the health and well-being of millions.

Her research, data analysis and reporting skills, her ability to work collaboratively with people and organisations from across all parts of government and society, were honed in Lancaster and are applied on a daily basis. They have helped her to develop national health strategies and policies in areas from pharmacology to strategic purchasing that are based on strong research and evidence.

Taghred is passionate about her work, and has no doubts that her education at Lancaster has made it possible for her to make such a positive impact in the Saudi Arabian healthcare system.

“I work in a department where they deal with national health policy and economics,” says Taghred, who was nominated for a British Council Study UK Saudi Arabia Alumni Professional Achievement Award last year for her work. “We try to solve problems and look for solutions based on evidence. For example, we produce public health policies, we produce policies around interventions – such as with HIV – and long-term state interventions. All these interventions need policies in order to present them.

“You help to build a plan, you come up with a policy, and you present it to the decision-makers, and convince them there should be rules in place.

“The evidence that backs this up has to be built on good research. If you don’t build this evidence yourself, you ask someone else to build it, but then how do you know if it has been done properly if you don’t have these skills and expertise? For example, we work with international organisations who give you evidence, but you have to see if it fits within your culture, within your context. Without the research skills I have, I wouldn’t be able to do this.”

Taghred started at Lancaster in 2008, two years after finishing a Masters in Health and Hospital Administration at King Saud University. She has many fond memories of her time at the Bailrigg campus – from the debates and discussions that shaped her thinking, to the community feeling of the campus, trips to Whitby and the Scottish Highlands, and the queues outside Greggs in Alexandra Square – something she was pleased to discover was still a daily occurrence.

“I do miss Lancaster,” she says with a desire to come back soon. “You were able to feel part of a community. It’s amazing – it has been almost 10 years and I am still friends with the people I shared an office with and those I lived with. The great thing about the University was how it was designed and how it helped us stay together with friends for so long. Between my academic life and my social life, I was able to make friends – who I still have now – from Germany, from Kenya, Egypt, all over the world.

“One of my colleagues has now joined Lancaster University to do his PhD. My enthusiasm about the university and how I learned from it, the skills I show in the work that I do, has shown them what a good education I had.

“My advice to anyone who is thinking about doing a PhD is not to think of research as only being for academia. Even in practice you need research, and Lancaster University is one of the best places for strengthening your research skills and helping you learn how to build up evidence; skills you can take into your work.”