A Guide To DBS Checks for GP Surgeries
GP surgeries are a place for unwell people to visit and get help from a doctor. Therefore, a GP surgery is attended by many vulnerable people – both adults and children.
For this reason, GP surgeries need to be very aware of safeguarding and make sure that there is a process in place to make safe recruitment decisions and meet regulatory compliance.
In this article, we’ll take a look at the staff roles in a GP surgery that require a DBS Check and what level of check is needed.
Which GP surgery staff members need a DBS Check?
Any individual who is involved in providing healthcare will most likely require an Enhanced DBS Check.
An Enhanced DBS Check is the highest level of DBS Check you can get and reveals all spent and unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands, and warnings, as well as any other relevant police information.
Roles such as doctors, nurses, and healthcare assistants are all eligible for Enhanced DBS Checks.
Healthcare roles that are carried out on a frequent basis (three or more times over a 30 day period) will be classed as a regulated activity, which means that the role will require an Enhanced DBS Check and a check of either the children’s barred list, adult’s barred list, or both.
The barred lists hold details of all the people in the UK that are banned from working with either children, vulnerable adults, or both.
Anybody that supervises or manages the employees engaged in healthcare, will also need to get an Enhanced DBS Check and barred list check, as they are also considered to be working in a regulated activity, making them eligible for an Enhanced DBS Check and barred list check.
It is clear that roles involving the provision of direct healthcare to patients in a GP surgery are safeguarding critical and will require higher level DBS Checks, such as an Enhanced DBS Checks. However, there are other roles within a GP surgery setting that may require only a Standard or Basic check.
DBS Checks for non safeguarding GP surgery employees
As well as healthcare practitioners, within a GP surgery there are frequently many employees who are not directly involved with patient care. For example, a receptionist or admin worker may only need a Standard DBS Check.
A Standard DBS Check for a typical receptionist is ideal, as they do not provide direct healthcare, but they come into face-to-face contact with patients. The Standard DBS Check reveals similar details to the Enhanced DBS Check, but doesn’t disclose police notes and a barred list check is not needed, or indeed allowed.
The exception to this is staff who act as chaperones and accompany vulnerable adults or children while receiving healthcare in a GP surgery. In this case, the chaperone may need an Enhanced DBS Check, especially if they are directly supervising the patients or helping them with tasks such as dressing.
Every aspect of a job role in a GP surgery should be considered carefully to decide the appropriate level of DBS Check.
Key takeaways – DBS Checks for GP surgeries
GP surgeries have a duty to make sure that safeguarding is well controlled and prioritised, in order to protect vulnerable adults and children.
Each role in a GP surgery should be considered separately to decide which level of check is required. Guidance and support can be found on the DBS website, as well as the websites of any relevant regulatory bodies, such as the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
These days, DBS Checks can be applied for online, using a service like ours. Applicants can simply fill in the online form and we will process it and submit it to the DBS, which means you’ll get the results within 48 hours (on average).
If you want to find out more about DBS Checks for GP surgeries, including the types of roles and levels required, then get in touch today.
