Of those having started, 9,000 are new to healthcare, the health service said.

A nationwide recruitment drive earlier this year saw almost 4,000 ‘on-the-spot’ job offers made to people attending events between March and May to help boost support for patients, families and staff. 

The recruitment campaign, in collaboration with hiring platform Indeed, ran in several major cities across the country with Manchester, London, Bristol and Leeds hosting. Events were also held at Southampton and Billericay in Essex.

Local careers fairs were aimed at people who don’t currently work in the care sector, people looking to return to work after a break or looking for a career change, with the roles open to those without previous care experience or qualifications.

As the health service prepares for winter, NHS CEO Amanda Pritchard welcomed the new recruits and said they will be at the “heart of words, clinics and local communities”, supporting existing NHS staff in caring for patients each day.

In its statement, the NHS said it had already set out steps to prepare for winter including through boosting bed capacity and increasing the number of call handlers working in NHS 111 and 999.

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