What protection is currently available to vulnerable adults from employees in a caring or nursing role who are on the Protection of Vulnera…

Employers of nursing and caring staff, including agency and voluntary staff, should follow good recruitment practices to ascertain an individual’s suitability for employment. This involves scrutinising employment history, taking up references from previous employers, checking regulatory practice registers and, where required by regulation, securing a disclosure check. This level of scrutiny should uncover individuals placed on the Protection of Vulnerable Adults list in England and Wales who apply for posts in Scotland.
Whilst there are no legislative requirements in place yet to enable the sharing of information held on Lists elsewhere within the UK, we are committed to improving protective measures for vulnerable adults in Scotland and have taken steps to amend the Police Act 1997. Given that disclosure systems operate differently across the UK, and are subject to review following Sir Michael Bichard’s Inquiry report published in June 2004, we are also consulting with other UK administrations on when to commence these information-sharing provisions.