CRB doubles healthcare worker checks

The Criminal Records Bureau (CRB), which vets employee applications for sensitive jobs, has more than doubled its capacity to process applications and will step up checks on healthcare workers, claim the Home Office.

By providing wider access to criminal record information, the Bureau helps employers to identify candidates who may be unsuitable for certain types of work - especially those involving contact with children or other vulnerable people in society.

Carrying out twice as many checks as the previous police process, by last August the CRB was processing 24,500 criminal record checks a week. This figure has been raised to 60,000 a week.

The government said that the improved performance means that checks on existing care home staff, care agency staff working in people's homes and nurse agency staff can be introduced.

Home Secretary David Blunkett said: "The CRB's performance in recent months has improved dramatically and I am pleased to announce that checks on healthcare workers can now be introduced. The CRB is on the road to recovery and is making consistent, steady progress."

In September last year the Home Secretary was forced to parachute in a team of expert civil service ‘troubleshooters’ when the CRB systems threatened to collapse under the strain of vetting education workers before the commencement of the academic year.

The team, which reported back directly to Mr Blunkett, conducted a “fundamental review” of the CRB’s strategy for its vetting processes with the aim of finding solutions to the ongoing problems at the CRB.

The government also announced that the 2003/04 fees will be £24 for a standard disclosure, £29 for an enhanced disclosure, but volunteers will continue to receive checks for free.

(SP)