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This page gives information about carrying out DBS checks on your care home staff and obtaining Disclosures for carers, health visitors or those in the care sector. If your organisation requires criminal record checks on staff because you are undertaking care services, you can Register your organisation now to carry out checks straight away.

Who needs a DBS Check within a Care Organisation?

Whether you are running a Care Home, a Nursing Agency or Health Visitor Service,  you will need to decide what level of check is required on staff members and volunteers. A majority of these roles involve Personal Care so an Enhanced Level Check, with a Barred Lists check would be appropriate.

To assist with the decision-making process, we have created some webpages relating to Regulated Activity for working with both children and vulnerable adults. You must register with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) for each of the Regulated Activities that you undertake. The CQC have created a webpage designed to assist with this process, with a brief description of each activity involved. Included in this decision-making process should be policies on supervision, the opportunity for contact with children/vulnerable adults and other measures in place to prevent harm.

Some common job roles that you may wish to run checks on include:

  • Care Home Manager
  • Registered General Nurse (RGN)
  • Carer
  • Care Assistant
  • Mental Health Nurse
  • Administration staff
  • Bank staff
  • Befriender
  • Social worker

CQC inspections.

As part of their inspection process, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) ensure that the organisation complies with Regulation 21 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2012. As part of this process they can request evidence that a suitable DBS Disclosure was obtained when an employee was appointed to a role, and prior to being allowed to work unsupervised with children and/or vulnerable adults.

Our systems are specifically designed to comply with these regulations and we have confirmed with the CQC that they will accept  a specifically designed “Preview Disclosure Notice”. This  can be printed from your own ‘Client Area’, as a record of the check requested. We can also tailor the account to match any recheck policies you have within your organisation to ensure your staff Disclosures are kept up to date.

Portability of Disclosures

For more information about this topic please read our page on Disclosure Validity.

The DBS have developed the Update Service which was designed to improve the portability of Certificates. Our FAQ includes a link to using the DBS Update Service which has been written to clarify the process and help you evaluate how to best introduce the service to your organisation.

Registration with CQC and further guidance

For initial registration with the CQC the designated manager or organisation lead should have carried out a check directly with the CQC. If not, please go to the CQC Homepage . There you will be provided with all the guidance required to obtain your initial DBS check that the CQC will request, as part of the Registration Process.

Most care organisations will need to decide for themselves who to run additional DBS checks on, as part of their Safeguarding Policy and using the CQC guidance provided on their website. You then run checks on your existing and new staff via an Umbrella Body organisation. To do this, you can simply register with DDC and we will call you back, so you can start the checking process immediately.

Working on Care Home Sites

The guidance relating to those working on care home sites, but not directly providing a care role, was changed when the new eligibility information on Regulated Activity was introduced. This means that a Care Home for Adults is no longer classed as a ‘Specified Place’. It is now much more important the role being undertaken by the employee is evaluated in line with DBS guidelines.

For those working in a care home, even on a temporary basis, the role should be evaluated using our specific guidance for Regulated Activity with Adults. Care Homes for children (and similar settings) are still classed as ‘Specified Places’ and should be evaluated for frequency and access to children using the Regulated Activity with Children webpages.