The NHS is the largest employer in Europe, and we're very aware of the shrinking labour market. The post-war baby-boomers are due to retire soon and we have to think of something to get young people interested in a career within the NHS and Health and Social Care sector.

The cadets are valuable members of the team. By the second year, they're working four days a week in placement and are integrated into the team. They're able to contribute significantly to patient care.

We're a widening access programme and would encourage people who haven't got necessary qualifications, i.e. five GCSEs at levels A to C, to apply for our programme. These are the people that we're looking for. These are the people that have previously been excluded from working within our sector and having the career opportunities to progress within it. We are an organisation that's committed to lifelong learning and, within that, our Skills Escalator concept allows many opportunities for people to progress up the ladder.

As part of the Apprenticeship framework, the cadets study Key Skills. As an employer, this is really important to us. Communication runs through the heart of everything that we do within the NHS and Social Care sector. The development of communication skills, not only impacts upon the patient's experience, but also on the cadet's confidence. This in turn helps their self-esteem, not only through their work, but also in their private life.

The benefits for the employer are also that we're getting staff who have all these skills and experiences to bring with them if they choose to come into employment at the end of that two years. Also retention, hopefully within HEIs, will be good because these people will have decided that this definitely is the career for them and our attrition figures in HEI should, hopefully, fall as a result of this scheme.