Huge jump in visits to Health Careers website as thousands consider a career in healthcare

The Health Careers website has seen a 223% increase in the number of people expressing an interest in a career in nursing, show figures published by Health Education England (HEE) today.

It comes at a time when thousands of nurses have returned to the NHS and student nurses have joined the fight against Covid-19 and appears to be inspiring a new generation of people to take their first steps to an NHS career.

Between March 16 to April 15 2020, 887,000 people visited the website which is a 47% increase compared to the same period last year. The biggest increase in traffic has been among the 18-24 year olds which has increased by 123% followed by over 65s which has increased by 100%.

Health Careers aims to inspire people at all stages of their career to consider the range of 350+ NHS careers available. Part of Health Education England, it also offers people information and advice on the skills, education and values needed to work in the NHS.

Other roles which have seen interest increase include:

• Paramedics – there has been a 222% increase in people visiting information on how to become a paramedic ;
• Drivers – there has been a 314% increase in people looking at careers information on becoming a driver in the NHS ;
• NHS 111 - there has been a 1,579% increase in people looking at information on working in NHS111  
• Porters – there has been a 212% increase interest in people looking at information on being a porter. 

The site has also had 2.6 million page views in this period which is a 78% increase.  

Wendy Reid, Acting Chief Executive, Health Education England said: 

Even in these most challenging of times for the NHS it is really heartening there is so much interest from people who want to explore options for a career in healthcare. 

The NHS has a wide range of careers to offer and it is great to see so many people both the young and over 65s keen to find out how they can play their part in delivering patient care.