Policy Statement

By law care providers must have effective recruitment procedures so that they employ only people of good character, who are physically and mentally fit to carry out the work and who have the necessary qualifications, skills and experience. In addition, Beyond Care must make sure that staff who are required to register with a professional body in order to practise have done so and maintain their registration.

Beyond Care must also take the required steps to refer a staff member who has been found to practise in their employed role to the relevant registration organisation (which in the cases of care staff means the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) with a view to placement on one or both of its barring lists).

The detailed policy implications of Regulation 19: Fit and Proper Persons Employed are covered in a range of specific policies, particularly:

• Safeguarding Patients from Abuse or Harm
• Giving and Receiving References
• Occupational Health
• Referring Employees to the Disclosure and Barring Service Barred Lists
• Staff Qualities and Qualifications
• Staff Recruitment and Selection
• Volunteers and Internships.

Through these policies and corresponding procedures, Beyond Care is able to show how it achieves its registration requirements in all relevant respects, as follows.

1. Beyond Care has clear and effective recruitment policies, procedures and practices to make sure it employs the staff, who are honest, reliable and trustworthy to carry out the roles provided and to reduce the likelihood of employing staff who present a risk to patients.
2. Staff are appropriately qualified and competent to carry out their role and meet the needs of people who use its services.
3. All staff are subject to appropriate pre-employment checks to make sure that they are who they say they are, that they are legally entitled to work in the UK, that they are of good character, that they are appropriately qualified and that they are in good health.
4. Checks include criminal records checks and, where applicable, barred list checks from the DBS.
5. Staff are allowed only under exceptional circumstances to start work before a full and satisfactory criminal records check has been received and then by using the DBS Adult First service.
6. Beyond Care makes sure that any staff employed as a registered professional, eg a nurse or social worker is always registered with their relevant professional regulator, eg NMC/HCPC, and their registration is always kept up to date.
7. All staff have a job description that clearly sets out their roles, responsibilities and tasks.
8. There are clear procedures in place, which are followed in the event of staff behaving inappropriately or are suspected of abuse of patients.
9. All staff have access to a Staff Handbook that comprehensively sets out Beyond Care’s requirements of them.

Training

All staff receive training in line with Beyond Care’s training policies and programmes. They have their qualifications, knowledge and skills reviewed on a regular basis, to ensure that they keep up to date with current practice.

Trainees and students, when employed by Beyond Care are only given tasks that are appropriate to their stage of their training and level of assessed competence.