A MAJOR recruitment drive has been launched in Yorkshire by the NHS as it faces up to the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Students training towards the careers highlighted in the campaign will benefit from the new £5,000 annual maintenance grant to help with their living costs, said a spokesman.

"The campaign targets occupational therapists, paramedics, podiatrists, diagnostic radiographers, therapeutic radiographers, orthoptists, physiotherapists, prosthetists and orthotists, as well as all nursing roles," he said.

"In Yorkshire and Humber, 205 more people joined the NHS as Allied Health Professionals in 2016/17, a 10.4 per cent increase on the figure five years previously. The number of people becoming Medical Radiographers rose by over 50 per cent."

Jo Churchill, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, said she knew first-hand how important these roles were, having twice been diagnosed and treated for cancer. "The NHS radiographers, physiotherapists, and nurses (including the cancer nurse specialists who looked after me) gave me faith that it was going to be OK."

*For more information, go to gov.uk/nhscareers.