More than 300 people attended a one-stop-shop recruitment event at Cheltenham Racecourse, with a large number fast-tracked into health and social care jobs.

A total of 314 people were welcomed through the doors, 298 job seekers were interviewed and 270 of those were offered roles, with 41 per cent being new to care.

Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust, Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, NHS Gloucestershire, Gloucestershire County Council and the independent care sector joined forces to run the event, which aimed to fill a large number of vacancies across the health and care sector locally.

The range of posts on offer included mental health, community services, adult social care, GP practice and hospital support roles.

Organisers said the event, which allowed people to walk in and get screened, registered and interviewed on the day, was a huge success. Candidates said the new format was straightforward and allowed them to navigate through the recruitment process quickly and with ease.

Tracey Cox, director of people, culture and engagement at NHS Gloucestershire, said: "This was the first time we have recruited for health and social care posts at the same time in this kind of innovative way and the format worked well.

"By working together with our partners, we were able to be highly efficient which was really beneficial for the candidates."

The busy demo and learning zones allowed candidates to meet health and social care professionals face to face, get a feel for the culture of organisations and find out about what the roles involve, as well as exploring career progression and development.

Neil Savage, director of human resources at Gloucestershire Health and Care, said: "It has been so positive to hear feedback from applicants about how enthusiastic they feel about securing a role within the health and care system.

"The event was a great way of demonstrating how rewarding it can be to do a caring job. Support workers are really the backbone of our system so we're very glad to be welcoming some new recruits on board."

At the event, candidates were routed through to an interview zone where health and care recruiters worked from questions designed to find out about prospective employees' values, capabilities and skills.

Sarah Scott, executive director of adult social care at Gloucestershire County Council, said: "Our aim was to remove barriers for people who may have considered the traditional route to employment a complex process and we're really pleased that we were able to do this.

"Welcoming some new employees into health and social care will definitely boost morale for existing staff which is hugely important."