Wednesday 10 September 2014

Police Checks for Health Care Industry

Does the Industry Require More Regulation?


Of particular importance is the use of police checks as a screening tool in the healthcare industry. Not only are doctors and nurses required to undergo a police check, but also those such as dentists, optometrists and other such medical professionals will likely need to undergo this check before they can practice in their chosen field.

The benefits of requiring medical professionals to obtain police checks before beginning to practice and at regular intervals thereafter far outweigh the downsides: cost of these checks and the downtime experienced while waiting for the police check to come back. Indeed, the costs themselves may be covered by the healthcare organisation and, as it is a standard requirement for all potential employees, the time it takes to receive the check back is surely understood and taken into account.

Just as those individuals who will work with children are required to obtain a Working with Children Check, it is just as important to ensure that those individuals who will provide medical care have their background checked to determine whether they have committed any offences that would preclude them from working in the medical field.

When assessing an individual's police check, strict attention is paid to any conviction which regards murder, assault of any kind for which the individual was imprisoned, or sexual assault. Any individual who has a conviction of this type will likely not be able to practice in the healthcare industry, or even volunteer in this industry. The danger the individual poses in such circumstances is simply too high. All other convictions will be considered according to the policies of each individual healthcare provider to determine whether the individual will be able to be employed.

Once employed in the healthcare industry, individuals will be required to continue to undergo periodic police checks to ensure that they have not committed any offences in the intervening time which would result in termination of their employment.

Of course, care must be taken to ensure these individuals are not discriminated against on the basis of their past criminal record. As such, clear and rigorously followed policies must be put into place by which background checks can be assessed on a consistent basis.

Confidence gained

By requiring individuals in this field to undergo police checks before and during their employment, potentially serious situations can be averted by using an individual's prior behaviour as an indicator of their potential future behaviour. It also instills in people the confidence that they can trust those who provide them medical care. It would be terrible to go to your doctor worrying that, perhaps, just perhaps, he may be a murderer or that, say, your dentist had assaulted someone in the past.

Especially for those who provide care to vulnerable people – the aged, the disabled, children – a police check is just as essential as something like a Working with Children check. It ensures that vulnerable individuals will not be treated by those who should not be trusted with this responsibility.

Also, just as in any workplace, it is important for colleagues to trust one another. However, it is particularly important for those who are providing medical care to trust that their colleagues are safe people to work with and have not committed any crimes which would be deemed serious enough to prevent their employment. Especially for those who work together in high-stress medical roles, not having to worry whether their colleague may be a danger likely allows them to more easily focus on their job.

Police checks play an important role in the healthcare industry serving to protect patients, organisations and their employees.

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