Why Should You Conduct Background Checks on Care Homes Staff

Background checks are done for all jobs, whether a DBS check or employment history check with references. When it comes to working in the medical and health field, many more factors need checking before hiring.

Why is background checks important when recruiting in care homes

People can fraud their way into a job

Background checks are important to help expose the people committing fraud. There are a few ways employees can commit this in care homes.

If the home requires a nurse to be there, they will have to be qualified to work with adults. They then also need to have a pin to carry out their practice.

If they do not have these qualifications, they will be putting the patients in danger because of not knowing how to do the tasks, and in emergencies, will struggle to carry out the correct procedures because they will not know what to do.

Carrying out background checks can help to reduce abuse and neglect

Abusing patients is something that can happen at any point in someone’s care, especially if they do not like them or their job. When checking the job history of care home employees can help filter out those with any previous convictions of abuse or neglect.

Neglect is something that needs to be looked out for because if the employees do not care about their job, this will leave the elderly in a weak position.

Neglect can develop serious problems for the elderly such as developing bed sores or malnourishment. Carers can also engage in financial abuse with residents. They can manipulate them into giving them money once they bond with them and gain their trust.

Carers can steal from the residents

When the elderly are put in a care home, they often take their sentimental belongings. If they have anything of high value, you might find that some caregivers will take them without asking or without anyone’s knowledge. Their reasonings may vary; for example, they might need extra money for struggle; however, this does not justify stealing from vulnerable people. If a caregiver has carried out this offence before, then you would want to prevent it from happening again as it can give the home a bad name, and families will lose trust in the home as well.

Conducting Criminal Record Checks

It is important to conduct criminal record checks when screening candidates for care homes. People with criminal records are disqualified from working in fields that work with vulnerable adults and children, and some other professional roles.

If a care home were to skip past this stage, then not only are they putting the residents at risk, but they also put themselves at risk.

Some care homes might allow people with criminal records to work there depending on how long ago they committed the crime and their release date, or they could look at what the crime was, and if they feel as if it has no relevance, then they could hire them.

Conclusion: Background checks are important for safety precautions

To sum up everything, it is crucial to complete a background check before hiring at a care home. This can help prevent any forms of abuse or neglect from happening more than it could be if they hired the wrong people.

When working in the care industry, you must find people that have care and compassion for the people they work with.

Check out our Compliance Centre to get more insight on background checks.