Primary care governance

This section is provided for health professionals (GPs, dentists, pharmacists etc).

Members of the general public are welcome to use these pages but should be aware that they are not written with them in mind. Please choose an option on the left for information aimed at the general public.

Adult safety

• Pan Sussex Multi-Agency Policy & Procedures for Safeguarding Adults at Risk
• Adults at Risk info poster (157kb Word file)

Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks

NHS Brighton and Hove would like to recommend to all GP surgeries, pharmacies, dental surgeries and opticians, that they consider arranging CRB checks for key staff. There is nothing in the GOS Regulations which requires CRB checks so this is entirely discretionary but the Clinical Governance Group at the PCT recommend it.

To enable you to do this as easily as possible there follows information on how to arrange checks. These two organisations are umbrella bodies, registered with the CRB on the basis that they will countersign applications on behalf of others who are not registered. Registering for CRB checks is not generally cost effective for small businesses.

CRB disclosures

There are two current levels of disclosure:

Standard disclosures show all convictions held on the police national computer, including spent convictions, together with cautions, reprimands or final warnings held on that computer. For work with children, it includes checks on the Department of Health and Department for Education and skills lists of people who should not work with children. A standard disclosure has to be applied for in relation to a specific job or role. It is required for jobs defined as ‘regulated positions’ by the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000:

'regular contact with children or vulnerable adults. In services regulated by CSCI, Standard Disclosures are needed where there is such regular contact, but the job does not involve directly working with, caring for, or supervising children or vulnerable adults – such as a job as a domestic, catering or maintenance worker'.

Enhanced Disclosures contain all the information provided by a Standard Disclosure, but also include information held on local police records which the police consider relevant to the post to be held. Like Standard Disclosures, they relate to a specific job or role only. An Enhanced Disclosure is required for jobs which involve regularly caring for, training, supervising, or being in sole charge of children or vulnerable adults. Anyone Registering with CSCI as the provider or manager or an establishment or agency must have an Enhanced Disclosure.

A CRB check is required for jobs defined as ‘regulated positions’ by the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000.  A Standard Disclosure is required for posts that have regular contact with children or vulnerable adults.   An Enhanced Disclosure is for posts involving greater contact with children or vulnerable adults (see attached for further details).

CRB contacts

Cost of enhanced check
£55 per person chacked (£36 for the check plus £19 for administration costs).

Contact: Margaret Healey
Address: Friars Walk, Lewes
Tel:  01273 403520
Email: margaret.healey@esbh.nhs.uk