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Background

Employers have a duty to protect their patients. Part of this duty involves safe methods of recruiting. In particular employers must not employ anyone who has been banned from working with children and vulnerable adults, if their work would involve coming into close, unsupervised contact with vulnerable people.

The CRB provides a regulated 'one stop' service for England and Wales offering access to records held by the police, together with those held by the Department of Health and the Department for Education and Skills. Registered Bodies can access these records by means of a “Disclosure”, which must be authorised by the job applicant.

Becoming a Registered Body, with one member of your staff acting as an Authorised Signatory, involves a payment of £305.00, plus £5.00 for each additional Authorised Signatory, if required. NEMS is able to act as an umbrella body for its members and other organisations, avoiding the need for payments of £305.00 and the need for every practice to train a member of staff in all the procedures.

As employers you will be concerned with Standard and Enhanced Disclosures.

• “Enhanced” means that any conviction or ban on working with children will be revealed, plus any additional information that the Police consider that the employer ought to have. N.B. Any information given by the police must be treated with complete confidentiality – it is for the intended recipient only and cannot be passed on under any circumstances.
• “Standard” excludes the Police information.

Doctors, dentists and nurses will require Enhanced Disclosures. It is our understanding that non-clinical staff might require a Standard Disclosure in some circumstances. For example, a receptionist might on occasions be in sole supervision of children during a quiet period of time, with the only doctor out on a visit.

Besides obtaining Disclosures as part of the recruitment process, you may feel it necessary or useful to obtain Disclosures on all your existing staff.

• This is permissible, but staff have the right to refuse their consent.
• You should also bear in mind that a Disclosure is like your car’s MOT – if you were to obtain a Disclosure a day or two later it might tell a different story.
• Disclosures, the substance of the information they contain and any supporting documentation and information must be destroyed once they have served their purpose. This is normally as soon as a decison to appoint has been made.

CRB Disclosure is only one part of the recruitment process and the recruitment process is in turn only the beginning of your personnel policies and procedures designed to protect patients.