Young people in County Durham are among those being offered a new route into NHS careers as the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) and The King's Trust respond to the North East’s high rate of young people not in education, employment or training.
The organisations have welcomed a new group of participants onto the ‘Get Started with NEAS’ programme. The scheme is designed to build confidence, workplace skills and practical experience, while giving participants an opportunity to pursue careers as NHS 111 and 999 health advisers.
The announcement was made on 23 July 2026, as concerns grow about youth employment across the region and the UK. A government-commissioned review published this month found that 957,000 people aged 16 to 24 in England—12.8% of that age group—were not in education, employment or training.
County Durham included in North East support programme
The North East recorded the highest NEET rate of any region in England, with around 61,700 young people—20.4%—out of work or education. The area covered by the partnership includes Newcastle, Sunderland, Gateshead, County Durham, Northumberland and Teesside.
NEAS and The King's Trust said young people from lower working-class and disadvantaged backgrounds can face particular barriers to employment. Their partnership is intended to provide practical support, workplace experience and a direct route towards NHS jobs.
The King's Trust has supported young people facing adversity for almost 50 years, helping them move into work, education or training. Through the NEAS partnership, it is providing employability support alongside access to genuine NHS career opportunities.
What participants learn before seeing ambulance operations
The programme includes workshops on careers at NEAS, writing applications, interview preparation and online assessments. Participants also receive support with confidence, resilience and wellbeing.
They then spend time with colleagues at NEAS’s emergency operations centre, gaining an insight into the work of a 111 or 999 health adviser. These advisers are often the first point of contact for patients and help ensure people receive appropriate care as quickly as possible.
The scale of that responsibility is reflected in NEAS’s latest figures. During 2025/26, its health advisers answered more than 1.47 million NHS 111 and emergency 999 calls and treated more than 56,000 patients over the phone.
The first ‘Get Started with NEAS’ programme has already produced participants who progressed through the ambulance service’s standard recruitment process. Some remain employed by NEAS, where they are now helping patients across the region.
Lessons from that pilot have shaped this year’s programme, with more emphasis on emotional resilience, wellbeing and preparing participants for the realities of working in emergency healthcare.
Partnership aims to build a representative NHS workforce
Nicola Couley, recruitment business partner at NEAS, said the initiative was intended to do more than fill vacancies. She said it could help young people who had not previously considered a career with the ambulance service or believed such work was within their reach.
“This partnership is about much more than recruitment. Together with The King's Trust, we're creating opportunities for young people who may never have considered a career with NEAS or believed it was within their reach.”
Luke Roberts, youth development lead at The King's Trust, said the programme was helping participants take the next step into employment by giving them confidence, skills and support.
“Following the success of last year's programme, we're proud to continue working alongside NEAS to create life-changing opportunities for young people across the North East.”
The two organisations said combining The King's Trust’s experience in supporting young people with NEAS’s NHS career opportunities could help address workforce pressures while enabling more people to build careers serving their local communities.
