Health Care Professionals

WQ.212/2023

WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES BY DEPUTY A. HOWELL OF ST. JOHN, ST. LAWRENCE AND TRINITY

QUESTION SUBMITTED ON MONDAY 15th MAY 2023

ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 22nd MAY 2023

Question

“Given that Health Care Professionals working in Jersey are required to be registered with UK professional registration bodies, will the Minister explain –

1. how the qualifications of personnel are checked, and at what point in the recruitment process;
2. howthe occupational competence ofall Locum and Agency Staff is assessed when they are first appointed in Jersey;
3. howshe ensures that all such recruitment meets her responsibilities in respect of patient safety and quality of care; and
4. whether any temporary staff have been granted permission to be in the Island without the proper qualifications, and ifso,why?”

Answer

1. For Permanent Staff, once PeopleHub receive the interview feedback form and assoonas an offer ismadeto the candidate, the Jersey Care Commission (JCC) registration form is sent to the candidate, together with offer of employment and provisional contract. Thisis conducted for all rolesasper JCC guidance notes.

Once this has been completed and returned, PeopleHub will upload the relevant certificate(s) to TalentLink and verify the candidate's status on the health and social care professionals register[1].

Note: a confirmed start date and formal contract cannot be issued, and as such employment cannot start, without the above being satisfactorily completed.

In addition to the above, the following checks are also completed:

• DBS carried out by our third-party provider Procius;

• A minimum of 2 most recent employment references;

• Infection Control clearance; and

• AXA Occupational Health Assessment.

For Locum Doctors, all doctors are met face to face for an ID check and other pre-employment checks in line with NHS Employers Check Standards[2] by the Holt agency team as part of the contract with Holt. Holt verify the following original documents needed for compliance:

• Photographic ID;

• Birth certificate;

• Proof of address (x2);

• Professional Registration and Qualifications certificates;

• Other / higher qualifications, such as MRCP/FRCP/ALS/Masters degrees etc; and

• Eligibility for Home Office Right to work check.

For Agency Nurses and Allied Health Professionals (AHPs), CVs are received and sent to the relevant managers; HCS have re-introduced telephone interviews where managers can discuss with the Agency Nurses/AHPs their knowledge and experience before confirming appointment to the temporary role.

A checklist is used by the HCS Bank Staffing Team which confirms managers have seen the documents required to ensure compliance regarding Agency clearances/proof of qualifications. This checklist includes

DBS check

JCC registration

UK registration

Professional references

This is checked separately by members of the booking Team (team member and Team leader) to ensure that everything is covered before the Agency Nurse/AHP comes to the Island.

For Agency Nurses, to assist their ability to start work immediately before arriving they are sent out a link for Virtual College and asked to complete EPMA, Trak, and other training. On their first day, they meet with the Team face to face and complete training with the ICT trainers.

2. For Locum Doctors, occupational competence assessment onthe job is conducted by the supervising Consultants they are working for (as they might be deemed suitable for a role only to be cancelled at a later date if not to the level expected). Occupational suitability for a job would be based on the supporting CVand references provided at the pointof proposal (and phone interview for consultants).

For Agency Nurses and AHPs, occupational competence is assessed on the job by the Team Lead for the area they are working in. The Induction Checklist will be completed by the Lead and returned to the relevant team within 48 hours.

3. All recruitment checks are in line with best practice operated in other jurisdictions and form a central part ofthe processes operated by PeopleHub for permanent employees and are in the contracts with the agencies providing the temporary colleagues.

If ever there are concerns expressed about the competency of a locum or agency worker, then it is within our contract to terminate the assignment.

4. There are no Agency Nurses, AHPs or Doctors within HCS without the correct qualifications.

This process has evolved over a period of time and is regularly reviewed, it is believed this is a robust process to that we only employ people with the right qualifications to undertake the roles we require.