If you wish to become a nurse or midwife in the UK you will need to undergo the strongest type of DBS check.
DBS checks are statutory criminal record checks for those who work in frontline roles.
Under the terms of the 1974 Rehabilitation of Offenders Act, the more engagement and unsupervised contact a person has with the public, the greater the degree of DBS check necessary, particularly if the person will be working with children or vulnerable adults.
A DBS check for a nurse or midwife is an enhanced DBS check with barring lists. All healthcare workers in the UK are subject to the same stringent checks and all UK professional bodies for medical staff vet their members in the same way.
A nurse or midwife automatically commands a great degree of trust from the public so a DBS check for a nurse or midwife will search for any unspent or spent convictions, cautions, reprimands or warnings.
The DBS will also check if there is any further non-conviction information in existence with relevant police forces or entries on the children’s and vulnerable adults barred lists.
Following the search, you will receive a DBS certificate from the Disclosure and Barring Service which you will need to show to your employer to evidence your suitability to work as a nurse or midwife in the UK.
The DBS certificate will list any information found during the search. If nothing was found the certificate will be blank.
For more information about a DBS check for an nurse or midwife, visit: Royal College of Nursing
