Why do nhs employment checks take so fucking long?!

[ItsLeviooosar]

Had the interview in April, got offered the job the next day. Did the dbs and occy health declaration the following week. 3 weeks later I got my dbs, a week ago I had a meeting with my new manager to discuss some sketchy details but that's another story..

At the meeting she said she happy and we were good to go.. I've emailed the resource person twice since then and she's been vague as hell about the start date. Should I just give up and look for another job? This feels ridiculous

Unfortunately that sounds about right. NGS recruitment is incredibly slow! No idea what they do that take so long. I would email the resource person and your new manager together and politely ask for a time frame and estimate start date or you'll have to reconsider your acceptance

I hire doctors and we've lost so many due to slow recruitment - takes so long they go to a different hospital. It's unbelievable.

If all your checks are done all they need to do is book you on induction (usually start of the month) and that's your start date.

hi OP,

In exact same boat as you! Applied for job mid April, had interview 27th may offered 2nd June and got told someone would be in touch in 3-5 weeks. Luckily someone got in touch after 3 weeks but I haven't even had a start date yet or any sign of starting. I was hoping to start beginning of August but my DBS hasn't come back yet 😓

Really frustrating.

I've worked in NHS HR and the pre employment checks are very stringent - a good thing given the working environment you'll be in! It's worth chasing up any employment references they might not have received back yet, in my experience this is one of the things that slows things down the most. Also check OH have all the information they need regarding your vaccination record. Hopefully things won't take much longer for you 😊

Also depending on the job you're going into they may have to wait for the next group induction dates. At the Trust I worked for these were run monthly for nursing staff, so it could cause a longer wait if your pre employment checks came back just slightly too late in the month.

Took 3 months from interview to starting for me, it is ridiculous

I accepted an NHS hospital job in the April, started the beginning of August. I’ve no idea why the process takes so long but it seems the same length of time for most people.

Interviewed at the end of July, offered the job the same day.

Started in October.

My current employer had issues with the way my previous manager filled out the 'pro forma' reference and it took weeks before the form was filled out to HR's satisfaction.

I used to work in NHS recruitment. Our Trust had the fasted turnaround time in the country. However it still takes time because you are reliant on other people. References got chased every day but some people just wouldn't respond to requests. I would advise that you follow up with your referees as that's likely to be where the delay lies.

It was my reference that held me up, can you find out if they've received them ok. I interviewed March, offered job in June and started September, it is never a quick process!

You have my sympathies...it took 5 months from interview to start date with NHS for me. The main hold up was Occ Health - no health issues, they just seemed to have no sense of urgency! Good luck!

It's stupid isn't it? Thanks for the support!

OP I work in public sector resourcing and its excruciatingly slow. The vetting teams need the DBS cert, then all your referees which then get contacted and once they're contacted they are then verified, so its essential to prewarn your referees so they are as cooperative as possible. Then they might send you for drug and alcohol testing (depending on what level of clearance you need) or a medical. Just to hire a temp can take us 16+ weeks in my sector - its exhausting.

I had a transfer from one department to another in the same hospital..it took 4 months (including 8 weeks notice).

I got offered a job mid December, started mid February. Would have been quicker but HR were incredibly slow then forgot to send off for my references, I had to keep ringing to nag. Par for the course I'm afraid.

Civil service can take ages - security clearance can take months as they are reliant on other agencies doing record searches etc. The good thing was, my Department doesn’t do full employment references. They check the dates of employment for the past 5 years with HRMC and ask for one character references!

My DH had an interview for an NHS job in May and was just given his start date- 3rd August!

At least it's not just me! I'm looking for more jobs now as it's taking just so long. But maybe that's counter productive!

I have worked in NHS recruitment and we heard this a lot. NHS Employers and the Home Office give us stringent guidelines on right to work and id checks. Different documents for both and thats's not including the DBS check that is a whole other set of docs. Many candidates don't send in correct docs and many don't have a passport or a utility bill! or think that a driving licence in an address they moved from 6 years ago is sufficient to prove ID. The amount of candidates I had whose name was wrong on their passport but didn't feel the need to get it changed. References have to be from all previous employers in the last three years with no gaps. Again the amount of candidates who didn't give us their present employer as a reference and we had to chase and chase and chase again. That's not including getting occupational health clearance. Then after all this you can issue a contract but the candidate then has to give their notice and that can be another three months! It really is s thankless task.

As part of my job I had to have counter terrorism clearance. It took 6 whole months!

No idea. One job I waited 5 months, and yes I sent in all the correct documents. I find it’s HR, unless you ring and nag then nothing happens.

I remember one job they wouldn’t accept one of my referees email address, only no-one bothered to tell me that. I only found out when I rang to find out what the delay was. 🙄

There will usually be a disclaimer on the application form that personal email addresses for referees cannot be accepted. I think it's obvious why but the amount of people who didn't read that bit and gave us a gmail address rather than an organisational address was astounding. All very time consuming.

Sadly this is about right. I interviewed and filled an admin position at the end of November last year and it took until the first week of March for the person to start. I'm just grateful that the process was completed before lockdown or we would still be waiting for a start date! Luckily the person was agency staff in the role and was happy to wait. In the past, we have lost so many good candidates because not many people are going to wait months for HR and their processes.

But my issue is if you have a problem with something on the application form then tell that person, communicate. The amount of times I’ve had to ring to say my references were sent weeks ago.

Haha yes it takes ages even if you're already an nhs employee changing trusts. It might well be even slower at the moment as less people in office?

I fear this will only get worse with Brexit as many of our new employees were from the EU and therefore had right to work. Visa applications take months and cost the NHS thousands so will be interesting to see what the Govt bring in for new EU candidates.