Auditor General reports on NHS checks on overseas staff

The Auditor General for Scotland is today publishing a report on the performance of the NHS in carrying out pre-employment checks of overseas staff.

The report, Overseas staff in the NHS – pre-employment checks, looks at whether NHS boards are following their own procedures on pre-employment screening of staff recruited from outside the European Economic Area (EEA).

It says there is evidence boards have a very high level of compliance with their stated procedures. The percentage of personnel files containing evidence of pre-employment checks ranged from 90 to 99 per cent, depending on the check.

The Auditor General for Scotland, Robert Black, said: “Healthcare professionals recruited from outside the UK play an important part in enabling the NHS to provide care to the people of Scotland.

The NHS carries out pre-employment screening for all its staff to make sure they recruit the right person for the job. This report looks at whether NHS boards in Scotland are following their own policies for carrying out pre-employment checks on staff from overseas. I am pleased to report that we found boards have a high level of compliance with their procedures.

“However our report highlights areas where the system can be improved to ensure that accurate information is available on the number of overseas NHS staff.”

At September 2007 the reported figure of non-EEA employees in the NHS in Scotland was 1,161 members of staff, 89 per cent of whom are doctors or nurses. But this is likely to be an underestimate as it can be difficult for boards to provide accurate numbers of overseas staff. This is for a number of reasons, such as people with indefinite leave to remain in the UK not needing work permits and not all staff information being held centrally.

The report recommends that immigration status is included in the national workforce information system. It also says NHS boards prioritise the wider use of electronic personnel records and ensure that recording the immigration status and associated information about work and residency permits are completed routinely.

The Auditor General undertook this focused piece of work following security incidents at Glasgow Airport and in London in June which allegedly involved overseas staff working in the NHS. The Scottish Government is currently revising its policy and guidance on pre-employment checks for overseas staff in the NHS.

In carrying out the study Audit Scotland asked all NHS boards for data about overseas staff. It then checked compliance with procedures at five boards; Ayrshire & Arran, Grampian, Greater Glasgow & Clyde, Lanarkshire, and Lothian.