In its email update to adult social care providers on 23 May 2022, the CQC reminded providers of the importance of ensuring that they adhere to safe staff recruitment procedures and that they comply with Regulation 19 of the Health and Social Care Act (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.
The purpose of Regulation 19 is to ensure that providers only recruit and employ ‘fit and proper’ staff who are able to provide safe care and treatment to service users. In its email update, the CQC stated that, “Registered providers are expected to apply the same processes for staff recruited from abroad (including refugees) as they would for staff recruited in England.”
The email also stated that providers, “…must do all they can to ensure that people they appoint from overseas are suitable to work with adults who use care services and/or children” and that although the DBS cannot access criminal records held overseas, it is still recommended that providers, “undertake DBS checks for workers from overseas in case a person is barred, has a criminal record in the UK, or comes from a country where the DBS does have information sharing agreements.”
How to comply with Regulation 19
To meet this regulation, providers must operate robust recruitment procedures, including undertaking any relevant checks. CQC’s guidance titled ‘Regulation 19: Fit and proper persons employed’ which was last updated on the CQC’s website on 12 May 2022, relates to assessing whether a candidate is of good character and ‘fit and proper’. The guidance states that, “It is not possible to outline every character trait that a person should have, but we would expect to see that the processes followed take account of honesty, trust, reliability and respect.”
Further information regarding how to comply with Regulation 19 can be found on the CQC’s website.
