Unit LHS13 – Recruitment and selection within health and social care or children and young people’s settings
1.1 – Explain the impact on selection and recruitment processes, in own setting, of:
1.1a – Legislative requirements
1.1b – Regulatory requirements
1.1c – Professional codes
1.1d – Agreed ways of working Recruitment remains an important process in the administration of registered care services, getting the right staff has a lot of impact on service delivery. There will always be the need to fill vacant positions at all care services and a lot has to be done to improve operational efficiencies and reduce staff turnover.There are some legislative requirements that are meant to be observed when planning recruitments activities theses are often tailored towards identifying and selecting the most suitable candidate for any particular job.
The law combined some of the former legislation (such as the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and the Race Relations Act1976) it sought to bring about some consistency in what employers and employees need to do to make their workplaces a fair environment and comply with the law. You cannot be seen to apply a rule that treats an applicant more favourably than others who share a particular protected characteristic.This law spells out how you can avoid all the different types of unlawful discrimination at a workplace.
The employment rights act 1996.This legislation is as an Act of the United Kingdom Parliament that was crafted to formally bring together the existing laws on individual employee rights in the United Kingdom. The Employment Rights Act 1996 through a broad context, primarily focuses on the rights available to employee, which includes but not limited to time off for parenting, redundancy, reasonable notice before fair dismissal, redundancy and unfair dismissal. It also specify that employment contracts needs to be given to employees within eight weeks of starting the job.
The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)
The disclosure and barring service (DBS) which was formed from the Independent Safeguarding Authority and the Criminal Records Bureau in 2012. It holds a vast database from where they make employee checks for known offences. This is to prevent unsuitable employees from working with various vulnerable groups, including children. The employment of any health and social care worker should begin with a DBS check and must be done periodically. My company signs up for an alert service to be notified if the situation of staff changes on the DBS register.
Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014: Regulation 18The intention of this regulation is to make sure that registered care providers can safely deploy enough suitably qualified, competent and experienced staff to enable them to meet all other regulatory requirements described in this part of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. To meet the regulation, registered care providers must ensure adequate numbers of suitably skilled and qualified staff with a view to meeting the needs of the people using the registered service. This is expected to be observed during all shifts. Employers are also expected to support staff to receive appropriate, training, professional development, supervision and appraisals that are essential for them to carry out their role and everyday tasks. They should be supported to obtain further qualifications and provide evidence, where required, to the appropriate regulator to show that they meet the professional codes and standards that are required from them perform within their roles.
Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014: Regulation 19The intention of this regulation is to make sure that providers only employ ‘fit and proper’ staff who are able to provide care and treatment appropriate to their role and to enable them to provide the regulated activity. To meet this regulation, providers must operate vigorous but meticulous recruitment procedures, including undertaking any relevant checks. They must have a policy and procedure put in place to support ongoing monitoring of staff, who must remain in a position where they still continue to meet these legal requirements, and they must have appropriate arrangements in place to deal with staff who are no longer fit to carry out the duties required of them.Employing unfit people, or continuing to allow unfit people to stay in a role, may lead CQC to question the suitability of a provider.Professional Codes.The code of conduct sets out the minimum requirements of how Healthcare Support Workers and Adult Social Care workers should behave at work.It is in place to help them to provide safe, effective and compassionate healthcare, to service users and their families. Every healthcare support worker and adult social care worker should treat their users with dignity and respect.What are the standards?
The Code of Conduct contains seven standards:
As a Healthcare Support Worker or Adult Social Care Worker in England you must:
1. Respect a person’s right to confidentiality
2. Uphold and promote equality, diversity and inclusion.
3. Work in collaboration with your colleagues to ensure the delivery of high quality, safe and compassionate healthcare, care and support
4. Strive to improve the quality of healthcare, care and support through continuing professional development
5. Be accountable by making sure you can answer for your actions or omissions
6. Communicate in an open, and effective way to promote the health, safety and wellbeing of people who use health and care services and their carers
7. Promote and uphold the privacy, dignity, rights, health and wellbeing of people who use health and care services and their carers at all times
Agreed ways of working
Agreed ways of working include policies and procedures that provide detailed explanations on what employers expect of their support workers. It could include different ways of supporting individuals who need care and support set out in their care plan and other policies such as moving and handling, health and safety and safeguarding. They are put in place to improve person centred care approaches and increase operational efficiencies
1.2 – Explain circumstances when it is necessary to seek specialist expertise in relation to recruitment and selection.All statutory and public organisations which employ staff and/or volunteers to work with or provide services for vulnerable adults have a duty to safeguard and promote the individual’s welfare. This includes ensuring that safe recruitment and selection procedures are adopted which would prevent, people who might abuse individuals or are otherwise unsuitable from working with them. Getting the right staff is the main objective of any recruitment exercise. There are times that the service may be constrained by time and need to contract the out-sourcing of employees to an outside recruiter. Employee that have been shortlisted are always expected to be vetted on the Disclosure and Barring service, there are instances where the results come back to show convictions that were not mentioned during the interview process, in some of these situations, it would be necessary to seek expertise advice on the suitability of the candidate for a position within the health and social care.If the staff to be hired is expected to carry out specialised or professional duties, for example, Dietician, nurses, physiotherapist. The selection process must include an experienced member of the advertised profession.
References for new employees are always coordinated by the human resources department1.3 – Analyse how serious case reviews and inquiries have contributed to the establishment of policies and procedures within recruitment which safeguard vulnerable adults, children and young people.A Serious Case Review (SCR) is a locally conducted multi-agency review in circumstances where a child or vulnerable Adult has been abused or neglected, resulting in serious harm or death and there is cause for concern as to the way in which the relevant authority or persons involved have worked together to safeguard the child or vulnerable Adult in question.Serious care review have been able to look at inter-agency failures and influenced major changes in the legislations and policies which govern recruitments.
The Bichard’s Inquiry among other things focused on recommendations which are relevant for Council services (Education and Social Services).It also identified failings in the recruitment process in relation to Soham Village College and their personnel agents. It noted that there was sufficient evidence that Huntley had a significant pattern of sexual attraction to young girls ant that if this had been found out when he moved to Soham and applied for a job as a caretaker, a tragedy might have been avoided. The report therefore recommended to the government a new system for registering those working with children and vulnerable adults – perhaps evidenced by a licence or card.
The report recommended a central registering body which would enjoy a wide network of searches or checks as a public register. It was recommended that the adoption of CRB checks and any registration scheme may help prevent similar events, but because many abusers are not known to the police, a robust staff selection process is an essential further safeguard. The report also recommended that Head teachers and school governors should receive training on how to ensure that interviews to appoint staff reflect the importance of safeguarding children and that no interview panel to appoint staff working in schools should be convened without at least one member being properly trained. The report also recommends that the Home Office issue clear guidance to Registered Bodies about their “precise responsibilities for checking identities.” Westminster: In relation to Social Services staff, the practicality of updating all CRB checks 3-yearly is being pursued with the CRB The need to provide training for rigorous interviewing which pays sufficient attention to safeguards. The Home Secretary accepted all the recommendations of the Inquiry, which has now changed how recruitment processes are carried out within the Health and Social Care.
https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/serious-case-review
https://www.skillsforcare.org.uk/Documents/Standards-legislation/Code-of-Conduct/Guidance-on-the-Code-of-Conduct-for-employers.pdf