NHS England has launched the biggest recruitment drive in its history in a bid to attract more applicants to under-staffed roles.

The £8m campaign will primarily target children aged 14 to 18 through TV and radio adverts as well as posters and social media. Initially, it will focus on drawing applicants into nursing.

Professor Jane Cummings, chief nursing officer for England, told Sky News: "There is a huge amount of choice out there at the moment, with lots of people competing for young people about where they want to go and work.

"So that's why we want to concentrate on recruiting 14 to 18-year-olds, to give them a real understanding about what being a nurse is all about."

Last year, NHS England had more than 35,000 vacant nursing positions, with mental health and community nursing roles being particularly hard to recruit for.


"This campaign is all about inspiring young people to come and work for the NHS and have a rewarding and fulfilling career," Prof Cummings said.

New video is part of NHS recruitment drive

Image: Young people are being encouraged to look into a career in nursing

Lauretta Ofulue has had first-hand experience of NHS nursing care.

Last year her son, Otito, died from a serious genetic condition, having been in and out of hospital since birth.

Mrs Ofulue told Sky News: "I know how much of a difference it makes when you meet that healthcare professional who really gets it, who's willing to listen, who's willing to communicate with your family, who treats your loved one like theirs."

Mrs Ofulue's experience inspired her to become a nurse and she has just finished the first year of a three-year course to become a learning disabilities nurse.

It is a role which she describes as "stressful and challenging, but really a privilege" and one that she would "definitely encourage others to do".

The new recruitment campaign hopes to secure staffing levels for the future by attracting 22,000 applicants.

But there are still concerns about the present.

Last year, following cuts to student nurse and midwife bursaries, applications to these college and university courses dropped by nearly 20%.

And the Royal College of Nursing says concerns about working restrictions for EU and non-EU healthcare staff has deterred people from applying to work in the NHS.

In turn, these factors have an effect on retaining existing staff.

Stephanie Aiken, deputy director of nursing at the Royal College of Nursing, told Sky News: "We know that people are leaving because they can't do the job well, that they are constrained by the lack of staff in order to share the workload.

"So one of the things we really need to think about is how to we attract the right staff so that we have the numbers coming in but then really how do we look after our staff well."

:: On Wednesday, you can watch a special hour-long live debate on the future of the NHS presented by Dermot Murnaghan on Sky News.