Collegue and CRB

[crazynanna]

I work in an Outpatient department in a hospital (Phlebotomist),and we have recently set on 3 new staff members (won the funding war!). The new staff are shadowed until their CRB clearances are through.

One of the new staff,a lady in her 50s',got a letter from CRB she told me today that said someone with her name has come up with recorded details and to call them.She did so,and they said some convictions have come to light from over 30 years ago. She was very distressed today when telling me,and in between sobs she said in her youth/younger days she was involved for a short time in the sex industry in her home town,and had been arrested a couple of times (and I think convicted) for soliciting. When I asked why she didn't write it on the form,she said because it was 30+ years ago,it would have been 'wiped' so she didn't think she had to declare it. To be fair,she hasn't worked for 18 years as she was caring for her disabled child (now an adult living independtly),and she has no clue how the CRB thing works. She now wants to go to the manager tomorrow and resign,because she believes she will get the sack anyway.

I didn't know what to say to her (have only known her 3 weeks),but I told her to just go and see the manager and explain what she has told me.

Do you think the manager will let her go? Are incidents from 30 years ago relevent?

The fact she didn't declare them was I believe a misunderstanding of the system,so I don't know where she will stand with this "not telling"

It is in a roundabout way a "sexual" offence I suppose....I just feel a bit sorry for her. She really enjoys the work and is a good worker fitting in well.

FWIW I know several upstanding members of the community with minor convictions for theft in their pasts. Usually as teenagers.

This is from the Direct.gov website:

"Standard CRB checks will contain details of all spent and unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands and final warnings from the Police National Computer (PNC).

The enhanced CRB check will include any information from the PNC and may also search:

information held by local police forces
lists of people barred from working with children and vulnerable adults which are kept by the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA)"

At a guess, as its NHS, it was probably an Enhanced CRB but, either way, all previous convictions and cautions are included.

Like others have said its the fact that she didn't disclose them (whether intentionally or not) that will be the issue.

It's an identity issue if they have asked for fingerprints as well. She needs to go and see the lead key signatory or a signatory straight away (the person who signed her application). This will be dealt with. She needs also to come clean about the convictiion she thought was spent.

I was told that shoplifting 10 years ago when you were a teenager was not a concern for working in the hospital, and they would still happily hire you if you were the right candidate. Shoplifing recently as an adult was (obviously there are valuable drugs and people's property and very expensive equipment etc)

Problem is, as far as I can remember she will have "lied" on the actual application form, because the equal oportunity page of your NHS application asks about previous convictions too doesn't it?

Hope they aren't too hard on her, bless her she doesn't sound like she was trying to get one over on them!

Hello

Well she went straight to the Manager on her arrival. Poor woman looked like she hadn't slept a wink

She returned and said the Manager was very supportive,but it is for HR to look at everything and refer to the Trust's Policy. He told her if the Policy includes this type of offence as "unsuitable" she will have to go. If,on the other hand,HR call him and say "It's up to you N" then he will support her and try and keep her on...maybe with conditions such as a trial period of being chaperoned.

He told her he is a believer of giving people second chances,and he fully accepts she innocently thought such an old incident would be wiped as she has no clue on the workings of CRB.

So..she has a meeting with a Manager in HR to discuss everything..and then they will liase with our Manager.

He told her not to worry...as these things are not black and white and have grey areas..and as such can be worked with. He compared it with not having a Visa for example...that is black and white and you are out.

She still isn't out of the woods...but she feels a bit more confident knowing our Manager is supporting her.

I hope it does work out for her. She is a nice lady and a good worker..an asset to our little team

Thankyou all for your replies

The application is an issue but most good HR people responsible for CRBs are well aware that 10 years ago people were advised that convictions would be spent after a certain period of time. I assume phlebotomists are screened for things like HepC before they are allowed to start work?

No I don't think we are screened for infections...more screened for antibodies for our own protection.

I am just about to have my HepB booster..and they give you MMR if you need it.

Isn't that a bit worrying if she's been convicted for soliciting? Yikes.

Why? She's not likely to start up again on the wards.

but she may have latent HepC that could be passed to a patient.

According to this report (summary) so could 216,000 other people. I doubt it's an issue, and she can easily be tested if it is.