A SCHEME to attract more young people to the nursing profession gets under way on Teesside this week.

North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Trust is looking for eight young people to train as nurses after extending its successful nurse cadet scheme into a third year.

Two open evenings have been scheduled to let potential nurses find out more about a programme that was introduced in 2001.

The scheme gives people the chance to gain basic nursing skills in a working environment, as well as qualifications to equip them for a healthcare career.

Any 17 or 18-year-olds who wish to enter the nursing profession are eligible to apply.

Applicants need a minimum of three GCSEs at C grade and prospective nurses will receive £100 a week in the first year, rising to the national minimum wage in the second year.

The open days will be on Wednesday, from 5pm to 7pm, at the University Hospital of Hartlepool, and at the same time the next day at the University Hospital of North Tees, Stockton