Safeguarding children through police checks: a discussion

Abstract

The disclosure of police-held criminal records of nurses working with children and those undergoing education for this role is a well-established process. Although the Police Act 1997 led to changes in the process, the aim remains the same: to prevent those with relevant convictions gaining access to children they may abuse or exploit. In this article, I summarise the current process for gaining police clearance and discuss some of the practical and ethical issues related to obtaining and using such information. Checks are made through the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) in England and Wales, the Scottish Criminal Record Office Disclosure Service in Scotland and the PreEmployment Consultancy Service in Northern Ireland. The CRB is referred to specifically in the article as the volume of requests going to this service has resulted in problems for education and service, but the principles and issues are common to all systems.