What Level of DBS Check Will I Need to Work in a Hospital?
Hospitals are full of vulnerable people; people who are sick, children, the elderly, and people with disabilities. Therefore, the staff hired to work in a hospital need to be dependable, trustworthy, and safe to work with vulnerable people. It is likely that for most jobs within a hospital, candidates will need to complete a DBS Check before they can work there. But it’s possible they may be unsure about what level of check they need. This article will help you to understand what level of check most hospital workers require.
The level of DBS check required by hospital staff, will depend on the role and the responsibilities they have within that.
Basic DBS Checks
With a Basic DBS Check, this will look at a person’s past criminal record, and will report on any unspent criminal convictions. A Basic DBS Check will be used in hospitals for staff who will not be in direct contact with patients. Spent convictions will not appear on a Basic DBS Check, but an unspent conviction would prevent someone from working in a hospital. A Basic DBS Check may be requested for non-customer-facing hospital administrative staff.
Standard DBS Checks
A Standard DBS Check would be required for hospital staff who have contact with patients or visitors to the hospital, but who are not acting in a care role. This could include jobs such as catering, cleaning, and maintenance. If the worker is directly working with vulnerable people or children, then a Standard Check is not sufficient, and they’ll need an Enhanced DBS to ensure those people are safeguarded.
Enhanced DBS Check with Barred List
If anyone working in a hospital has direct access to patients then they require an Enhanced DBS Check with Barred List, due to the patient’s vulnerability. It is a legal requirement, that if anyone does regulated activity with children or vulnerable adults, that they require an Enhanced DBS Check with Barred List.
This will include all medical staff, such as doctors, nurses, consultants, occupational therapists, radiographers etc. Also, staff members who transport hospital equipment into patient rooms, or common areas will need an Enhanced DBS Check with Barred List. Staff working in specialist children’s wards or hospitals will need this Enhanced DBS with Barred List. The Barred List ensures that no one has been barred from working with children or vulnerable adults due to past violent, abusive, or sexual offences.
Do Volunteers at the Hospital Need a DBS Check?
Volunteers at a hospital need DBS Checks too, and if you have direct contact with children or vulnerable adults (any patients) then you need an Enhanced DBS Check with Barred List. If you are definitely classed as a volunteer (and there are strict criteria to follow) then you may be eligible for the Volunteer cost of the DBS Check. To be classed as a volunteer, you must be helping a ‘third party and not a close relative’ and not being paid for this. You can’t benefit from the voluntary work, with no compensation except for basic expenses. Your voluntary work cannot be a work placement, or part of course requirements, and the volunteering cannot be something you do, prior to it becoming a permanent paid position.
