Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps the NHS plans to take to employ more young people.

The Department is committed to supporting more young people into careers in the National Health Service as part of its wider ambition to deliver a sustainable workforce fit for the future. As the country’s largest employer, the NHS has a unique responsibility to catalyse growth and economic prosperity in the communities it serves.

We work closely with colleagues across Government, and the wider health and social care system, to improve youth participation in education, employment and training by offering a range of entry routes into NHS careers for young people, including apprenticeships, supported internships and access programmes.

Current work includes the Widening Access Demonstrators programme which has already supported more than 1,000 young people and people from deprived communities into pre-employment programmes and onward opportunities in health or care. We have extended this work for 2026/27 and are also rolling out successful, proven pre-employment models nationally over the next three years. The Department also continues to work with the King’s Trust to support 3,500 young people from diverse backgrounds into NHS and adult social care roles by 2030.