Criminal record checks compliance

Today I am updating the House on the response to those recommendations. The Trust published an assurance statement in February 2024 on the implementation of the recommendations from the Phase 1 report. This sets out the progress made to implement the Inquiry’s recommendations.

The range of actions taken by the Trust include requiring that non-mortuary staff and contractors are always accompanied by another staff member when visiting the mortuaries; controlling access to mortuaries using swipe cards; mandating contractors to renew security clearances every three years; and installing CCTV coverage monitoring access to and from mortuary areas. The Trust Board is also providing greater oversight and assurance of legally regulated activity in the mortuary.

I am also reassured that NHS England’s South East regional team held monthly oversight meetings with the Trust between November 2023 and April 2024 (in partnership with Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board) to ensure progress against the Inquiry’s recommendations and to review evidence of the Trust’s progress in delivering their action plan. Ongoing compliance with the Inquiry's recommendations will be monitored by NHS England through regular regional oversight meetings with the Trust, and through other channels as appropriate.

The Trust now complies with this recommendation in full:

• A “Disclosure and Barring Service process proactive review” was undertaken by the Trust’s Anti-Crime Service (formerly the Counter Fraud service) as part of the 2022/23 work programme, and the report was published in January 2023. That review concluded that “The Trust is compliant with NHS Employment Standards and Regulations for processing of DBS”, and that the Trust’s policy was “…robust and good compliance has been evidenced”.

• Reports on the outcome of the Trust’s internal compliance checks regarding the DBS checking process were considered at the Executive Team Meeting (ETM) in June and October 2023 and by the People and Organisational Development Committee in June and November 2023. These reports showed that no members of staff had a DBS check which was outstanding and had not actively engaged in renewing their check with the DBS team. Annual reports are now scheduled to be presented at both ETM and People and Organisational Development Committee meetings.

• The Trust’s contacts with service providers include the need to comply with the Trust’s policy on DBS checks. Mitie (the contractor that provides Facilities Management and Estates services at Tunbridge Wells Hospital) has confirmed to the Trust that their policy renews DBS checks for all its employees every three years (which aligns with the Trust’s policy for its staff). The Trust has also written to Kent and East Sussex Weald Hospital Ltd (KESWHL), the PFI Project Company that sub-contracts to Mitie, to confirm KESWHL and its agents and contractors, including Mitie, complies with the Trust’s “Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks” policy.

• The process for DBS checks for other contractors (apart from the Trust’s security service provider – see below) has recently been transferred to the Compliance team within the People and Organisational Development function. 46 such contractors have been notified that the Trust requires them to comply with the Trust’s “Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks” policy & therefore renew the DBS Certificates of their eligible staff every three years.

No statement on delivery from Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust has been found in the sources searched. This is separate from the response above.