Pressure and CRB checks
December 4, 2008
The horrific case of Baby P and the failures of Haringey Council’s social care services to identify the ongoing physical abuse that had been inflicted on him, leading to his death, has been an extremely prominent news item in the last few weeks. Three members of the council have been suspended, and there have been calls for senior social and care services personnel to resign.
Now, a report that was commissioned by Ed Balls, children’s commissioner and carried out by Ofsted, the Healthcare Commission and HM Inspectorate of Constabulary has found that the process of gaining CRB checks for staff working in social healthcare for the local authority is unclear, and described it as ‘not good practice’. It seems that some staff have been working before their CRB checks have been completed, possibly without supervision. The report also said that the fact that the council relies heavily on agency staff is a problem because children need continuity in the support they receive, which is not provided with different agency staff all the time.
The issue of gaining CRB (Criminal Record Bureau) checks for staff can cause difficulties for some organisations. Many services, such as in social care, should not be provided without first gaining a check on a member of staff, but with major resourcing problems and the fact that a CRB can take weeks to come back, it’s no wonder some organisations feel as though they need to cut corners and let staff work before they are properly checked, because they simply have to provide staff to support the service users. In a previous role I worked for a provider of social care, and contracted employees were not allowed to start work before their CRB check was returned, as well as two satisfactory employment references. However this did cause issues with insufficient numbers of support workers, and this meant that the company was forced to rely heavily on agency workers on a constant basis.
I think the failures of Haringey Council in this case are appalling, but it’s important to remember that social services across country do a fantastic job the on the whole. I think the services are portrayed pretty badly in the media, with news stories always focussing on the negatives and characters on film and TV always portrayed in a really awful way. It’s a difficult job to provide a continuous and consistent service as well as keeping security and safety standards as high as are needed, and I think it would be a good start if the amount of time it takes for a CRB check to be returned could be reduced. Last time I applied for one it was at least three months before I received the paperwork.
Child protection is a constant job for providers of care and support services, and it is necessary for service providers to constantly review their processes and procedures, so that another horrendous case such as Baby P doesn’t happen again. However it needs to be recognised that this is a very difficult job, and more media attention should be given to the successes of support providers as well as the failures.
Things to consider:IT Support Manchester
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