About the NHS

The NHS was set up in 1948 to provide everyone in the UK with healthcare based on their needs, and not on their ability to pay. The NHS is respected throughout the world for the standard of care it gives to patients.

Although most people think about the NHS as being their local hospital, when you visit your dentist, your GP or even your local pharmacist you could be speaking to someone employed by the NHS. And increasingly there is more and more NHS staff whose work is not based in a hospital, but who work in local health centres, GP practices or even in patients' own homes.

More people work for the NHS than any other organisation in the country: 1.3 million people in England alone. That is around one in every forty people. You will probably know at least one person who works for the NHS.

The people who work for the NHS may have jobs in clinical or non-clinical roles. Clinical roles provide care to patients, such as nursing, medicine, midwifery, as well as a range of allied health professions such as physiotherapy, radiography and counselling.

The many non-clinical roles in the NHS cover the functions needed to keep the buildings clean and efficient and the organisation running smoothly. Non-clinical roles include receptionists, accountants, IT specialists, caterers, engineers, architects and plumbers.

With over 350 different career opportunities, there is a role to suit all interests and qualifications.

About NHS Health Careers

This website is provided by NHS Health Careers. NHS Health Careers, formerly NHS Careers, was set up to encourage people to think about the joining the NHS team. We are dedicated to providing help and information to people who are interested in working in the NHS and other health employers in any one of the 350 careers on offer. We can help with information on what it is really like to work in health, how to get started in a career in the NHS or on the training and study needed to qualify for different jobs.

NHS Health Careers is a service managed by NHS England.