One of the many factors highlighted by the coronavirus pandemic has been the enormous pressures felt by those working in the health and care sectors. With care homes especially suffering the worst losses during the height of the crisis, the issue of staffing is something the UK government has vowed to tackle as a matter of urgency. Recruiting for this sector, however, has to be done very carefully, which almost always means applying and enhanced CRB check for new applicants. While most of these checks go through smoothly, there are reports that an unacceptably high number of applicants are frustrated that their check gets stuck at the same stage, often for weeks at a time.
CRB and the DBS
The terms CRB and DBS are often used interchangeably, which can confuse job applicants. In fact, criminal record bureau (CRB) checks have been superseded by the UK Home Office’s Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), which carries out the same function. The point of such checks is to look at any individual’s criminal record history, if they have one, in order to ensure appropriate staff are employed in certain positions of responsibility. Understandably, those looking after the health and well being of some of society’s most vulnerable people will come under the closest scrutiny.
The DBS system is divided into three tiers; basic, standard and enhanced. Basic checks are requested by job applicants themselves, usually at the request of a potential employer. There are no rules governing why such a request is made, other than that the applicant must be at least 16 years of age. These checks show only any unspent criminal convictions on a person’s record.
The standard and enhanced CRB check disclose all convictions, whether spent or unspent; plus any cautions, reprimands or final warnings an applicant has had. For the enhanced check, police services will add any details of interviews and other exchanges recorded at the time of the arrest/s, in order to help a potential employer make a final decision. For certain positions, including many of those in the health and social care sector, enhanced checks will also ask to look at either the children’s or adult’s barred list. These are registered of individuals who are barred from working with either group, as a result of previous conviction/s.
Repeated Delays
As workers in the health and care sectors usually require enhanced checks, applying for such is a common practice by employers. Any large health or social care provider will be a registered body, meaning they regularly ask for at least 100 enhanced checks per year. Smaller organizations will use umbrella organizations, which have to satisfy the same criteria. Only very specific occupations qualify for an enhanced background check; these are called regulated activities. Even then, only if the applicant will be carrying out these activities regularly, and as part of their job, will the position qualify as regulated.
As can be imagined, enhanced CRB/DBS checks are the most time consuming of all such background checks, as they require input from a number of sources. This is especially true of one of the barred lists has to be accessed. However, even these highest level checks are usually back with the requesting body within a working week. Criminal records are held on the Police National Computer (PNC), which means that only discrepancies in application details are the cause of hold ups. It is quite common, for instance, for previous addresses of an applicant not to be entered by the applying body. In this case, the application will be returned for revision, without incurring a charge.
What has been reported as causing delays is known as “stage 4” of the enhanced process. This is where any relevant notes are added by police services. If the applicant has lived in multiple addresses during their lifetime, it can be problematic finding out which police service was involved in previous convictions, especially if only a warning was issued. Traffic offences, meanwhile, are prosecuted by police services responsible for roads within their jurisdiction; this may not be where the offender lives. Details such as this can lead to partial sharing of information, making the final DBS check harder to compile.
Thorough Process
The delays mentioned here can mean employers are without staff for unnecessarily long periods, which is bad for patients’ health. This does not mean that the process can be hurried; but hopefully all involved authorities will be able to work together to make any delays as short as possible.
