Safer Recruitment and DBS PolicyA Safer Recruitment and DBS Policy written for your service
- Written for your organisation, not a template with your logo on it
- Read and approved by a person before it carries your name
- Verified against all 33 required elements of the legislation below
- Kept updated when the law changes, so it never quietly goes stale
No subscription needed. First year of updates included, £12 a year after that.
One-off, first year of updates included. Delivered within 2 working days of your details. Also in the Statutory Starter Pack, 20 policies for £495.
Trusted by UK care providers
Let's build your Safer Recruitment and DBS Policy
Answer 8 quick questions, about three minutes, and we'll write this policy for your service, in your name, with your people. You can skip anything and add it later.
Asked once, reused for every policy you buy
That's everything we need
0 of 8 answered. You can add the rest at any point before we write it.
- Registered company name
- Trading name (if different)
- Service address
- CQC provider ID
- CQC location ID
- Registered manager
- Nominated individual
- HR / recruitment contact
Your answers are saved on this device and carried into your order.
Built from the law, checked against the law
The legislation, CQC standards and guidance we analyse to write it.
Your Safer Recruitment and DBS Policy is structured from these regulations, then verified against every required element of each one before a person signs it off. If the law changes, your policy is updated and you are told what changed and why.
Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)
- States that enhanced DBS checks including the adults' barred list must be completed and returned before any member of staff begins work on the floor with residents
- Defines the circumstances and risk assessment requirements if staff are exceptionally permitted to start work before DBS clearance, requiring written justification with named authorising manager recorded
- Requires physical verification and sighting of the original DBS certificate by a named staff member, with a record made that it has been seen, acknowledging that certificates belong to the individual not the employer
- Requires enrollment of new staff in the DBS Update Service at point of hire to enable ongoing status checks beyond the initial recruitment date
- Requires the care home to independently verify DBS checks for agency workers, volunteers, students, visiting contractors, and any other person undertaking regulated activity, not relying solely on agency or third-party assurance
- States that employing a person on the adults' barred list is a criminal offence and require verification against the correct barred list, noting that children's barred list status does not indicate adults' list status
Regulation 19: Fit and proper persons employed
- Specifies that no person may begin work in a regulated activity before all Schedule 3 information is obtained, and must identify by role who has authority to approve a start date and in what circumstances a risk-assessed exception may be made in writing
- Requires a full employment history (not a CV) showing all previous employment with dates, and must require a satisfactory written explanation for every gap in employment to be obtained and recorded in the personnel file
- Requires that where an applicant has previously worked in a position whose duties involved children or vulnerable adults, the reason why that employment ended must be verified so far as reasonably practicable, and must specify that this requires active enquiry beyond requesting a reference, including recording what was asked and what response or refusal was received
- Requires enhanced DBS certificates with adults' barred list checks for all persons undertaking regulated activity, and must set a defined interval for re-checking existing staff (whether by Update Service or new certificate) with checks dated and recorded, acknowledging that certificates have no statutory expiry but age in relevance
- States that good character is a separate assessment from the DBS certificate, and must require documented consideration of honesty, trustworthiness, reliability and respect for others, with any disclosed convictions subject to an individual written risk assessment that is reasoned and considers nature, age, relevance and the person's account, not a blanket exclusion
- Requires that health may only be considered in relation to capability to perform tasks intrinsic to the work and only after reasonable adjustments have been considered, must restrict pre-employment health enquiries to purposes permitted by section 60 of the Equality Act 2010, and must specify that occupational health referrals must ask what adjustments would enable specified tasks, not whether the person is generally fit
Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006
- Defines which roles constitute 'regulated activity' with vulnerable adults in writing, distinguishing them from non-regulated roles (e.g. distinguishing care staff from kitchen porters) to ensure only lawful DBS checks are carried out
- Prohibits any member of staff from commencing work or having contact with residents before their DBS check, barred list check, and full recruitment file are complete
- Establishes that DBS certificates do not expire and that initial checks provide no assurance beyond the date of issue, requiring ongoing monitoring mechanisms
- Requires enrolment and use of the DBS Update Service for all staff in regulated activity to enable verification of current status between formal rechecks
- Imposes a mandatory duty (not discretion) to refer individuals to the DBS under section 35 where the home would have dismissed them for conduct harming or risking harm to a vulnerable adult, even if they resigned first
- Requires referral based on reasonable belief (not proof or completion of investigation) that the individual engaged in conduct endangering a vulnerable adult, clarifying this is not the criminal standard of proof
Written for your service
What we ask you, so none of it is assumed.
Most policy packs are one document sold to everyone with a find and replace on the home name. Your Safer Recruitment and DBS Policy is written from the legislation above and from your answers to the questions below. Where you have told us something, it says so. Where you have not, it sets out what must happen rather than claiming you already do it.
Your registered name, address, CQC numbers and who holds the key roles. About three minutes. Nothing else is asked before you buy.
Asked once in your own account and used across every policy you own, so a second policy never asks you the same thing twice.
Why it matters. A policy that claims you assess your premises annually, when you never have, is not a harmless overstatement. It is a signed statement handed to your inspector. We would rather write what you must do than guess what you already do.
How it is made
From your details to a policy you can stand behind.
The short questions above: who you are, your CQC registration, and the people this policy names.
One section per required element of the legislation, in your name, with your people.
Automated checks against every required element, then a person reads it before it ships.
When legislation changes, your policy is updated and you are told what changed and why.
Common questions
What you are actually buying.
What exactly do I receive?
A complete Safer Recruitment and DBS Policy written for your organisation, in your dashboard and as a print-ready PDF on your own letterhead. It names your service, your registration details and your leads, because you gave us them.
Is this a template?
No. Each policy is written for the organisation buying it, structured from the legislation itself, verified against 33 required regulatory elements, and read by a person before it carries your name.
How quickly will I get it?
Within 2 working days of you completing the short questions above. Most arrive sooner.
What happens when the law changes?
We monitor UK care legislation continuously. When something affecting this policy changes, your copy is updated and you are told what changed and why. The first year of updates is included, then £12 a year per policy.
Can I edit the policy myself?
No, and deliberately so: we stand behind every word we approve. If something needs changing, tell us and we amend and re-verify it, so it always remains a document we can both defend to an inspector.
What if I need more than one policy?
Most services do. The Statutory Starter Pack covers the twenty policies every CQC-registered service is expected to hold for £495, and the Complete Policy Library covers all 66.
Why CareStream
Policies written the way an inspector expects to read them.
Before you buy
What the document actually looks like.
Every section it contains, and a page of the real thing. We show the structure and the personalisation rather than the wording, because the wording is what you are paying us to write for your service.
Contents of your Safer Recruitment and DBS Policy
- Purpose and scopewho it covers
- Legal and regulatory frameworkcited in full
- Definitions used in this policy
- Roles and responsibilitiesyour people, named
- Procedure, step by step
- Recording, reporting and escalation
- Training and competency
- Monitoring, audit and review
- Related policies and documents
- Version control and approvalsigned and dated
Section 4 · Roles and responsibilities
Who is accountable, by name
Overall accountability for this policy rests with your registered manager, supported by your nominated individual. Day to day responsibility sits with your named lead, who is the first point of contact for staff at your service address.
The remaining wording is written for the organisation buying it, so it is not shown here.
“The inspector asked for evidence and I had it on screen before she finished the sentence.”
Registered Manager · 48-bed nursing home, West SussexRelated policies
More policies your service may need.
More statutory and operational policies CareStream writes for your service, personalised, human-reviewed and kept updated, exactly like this one.
Safeguarding Adults Policy
Recognising, responding to and reporting abuse and neglect, aligned to the Care Act 2014 and your local authority procedures.
Medicines Management Policy
Ordering, storage, administration, recording and disposal of medicines, including errors and self-administration.
Mental Capacity and DoLS Policy
Capacity assessment, best-interests decisions and deprivation of liberty safeguards under the MCA 2005.
Health and Safety Policy
Your general statement, organisation and arrangements under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
Infection Prevention and Control Policy
IPC arrangements aligned to the Code of Practice, including audit and cleaning schedules.
Data Protection and GDPR Policy
Lawful handling of personal and special category data under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.
Compared
The four ways care services get a policy.
We have compared what each approach does rather than naming competitors, because products change and the comparison should still be true next year.
| CareStream | A policy pack | A consultant | A free template | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Questions asked at the point of purchase, so it is personalised rather than blank | ||||
| Written for your service, naming your manager and your leads | ||||
| Structured from the regulations, every required element checked before it is sent | ||||
| A branded companion document setting out the law it was written against | ||||
| Read and approved by a person before it carries your name | ||||
| Prints on your own letterhead with a sign-off and version block | ||||
| Named role holders update everywhere when the person changes | ||||
| Kept current when the law changes, and you are told what changed | ||||
| Turnaround stated before you buy | ||||
| Your staff can ask it questions in their own language | ||||
| What it costs | £39 to £79 per policy, one-off | £250 to £995 for the pack | A day rate, typically £400 upwards | Nothing |
Prices are the published rates of the common alternatives as at September 2026, for comparison only.
Training
Owning the policy is half of it
An inspector asks whether your staff understood it, not whether you hold it. Ninety eight modules written and kept current by us, to the same regulations, from £25.99 per staff member with no subscription.
