Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to develop volunteering as a route to an NHS career; and what support his Department provides to (a) NHS Cadets and (b) other programmes to help support a (i) diverse and (ii) inclusive NHS workforce.

NHS England has been working in partnership with Helpforce, St John Ambulance, and Barnardos on a range of initiatives to better support volunteers to take the next step into a career in the National Health Service. With Helpforce, this has included supporting 28 pilot organisations to initiate a Volunteer to Career programme, offering routes into careers with a particular focus on clinical workforce pathways. In addition, NHS England’s partnership with St John Ambulance has led to over 5,000 14 to 18-year-olds enrolling on the NHS Cadets programme to date. In the last year, 80% of those new to the programme were from deprived or under-represented groups who might not otherwise have considered a healthcare career. Finally, with Barnardos, NHS England has developed the Young People’s Health Challenge to inspire seven to 14-year-olds from deprived communities and underrepresented groups to find out more about the NHS, raise health literacy, create aspirations to work or volunteer with the NHS, and reduce health inequalities.

NHS England is working to embed the Young People’s Health Challenge and NHS Cadets programme across the NHS, and ensure sustainability beyond 2024/25. NHS England is also working to share the learning and experiences of the Volunteer to Career programme, developing tools, resources, and guidance that enables all health and care organisations to better support volunteers to move onto careers within the NHS, if they wish to do so.