Operating lists and outpatient clinics for children are continuing to be cancelled across the country due to the chaotic introduction of new safeguarding regulations.
New regulations mean that consultants need to undergo a Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check every time they work at a new hospital and are not allowed to start work until the process is completed and hard copy received by post by the employing trust.
The overzealous interpretation of the requirements by trusts, and long delays in the system, mean that NHS surgeons cannot move between many hospitals quickly enough to deal with rare cases or cover absences.
The Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) is calling for immediate roll out of passport-style arrangements that allow NHS staff who have already received an enhanced CRB check for one trust to be recognised across the health service.
The vetting and barring scheme (VBS), implemented in October 2009, sets new high standards for checking all those working with children. However, the system to deal with this additional demand does not come into full force for four years. Trusts are being overly cautious and demanding that NHS surgeons who have already received enhanced CRB checks go through the time-consuming process each and every time.
The RCS says the Department of Health is yet to offer a quick solution. As a result, highly specialised surgeons are restricted to working at one site with no flexibility to move at short notice to cover and assist colleagues with rare or emergency operations. And children must either wait or travel for treatment.
The college says the VBS has created a range of problems, including trusts being unable to fill locum positions or having to wait up to three months for surgeons to begin work, and trainee surgeons being unable to work or receive training, particularly across central London hospitals.
Mr John Black, president of the RCS, said: “The college has flagged up this situation with government on three separate occasions in a three month period, and we were reassured that a solution would be reached within a week. That surgeons are still faced with this situation is simply unbelievable.”
Some trainee surgeons have had more than ten separate CRB checks in just two years.
Ms Su-Anna Boddy, Consultant Paediatric Urologist, said: “We are meant to be training expert paediatric surgeons of the future, yet training opportunities are being wasted due to the unnecessary bureaucracy of re-checking doctors who have already passed rigorous CRB checks.
“It is imperative that we are able to utilise the best training opportunities, in the right hospitals, at the right time, and it is totally inappropriate that children be transferred to another hospital so that trainees can learn.”
A DoH spokesperson responded: “The current advice from NHS Employers is clear that a person can start work before a CRB check has been received where there is an urgent need to employ someone quickly and an appropriate risk based assessment has been carried out.
“We are committed to working with the Royal College of Surgeons, the Care Quality Commission and other interested parties in drawing up revised guidance and bringing it to the attention of NHS HR directors.”