Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the impact of requiring nurses to be DBS-checked on patient safety.

Nurses are in Regulated Activity and are required by law to have an enhanced check with adults and/or children’s barred list information, where applicable to the role. For eligible positions, Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks are one of several background checks that employers must carry out to ensure individuals working in the National Health Service are suitable and safe to carry out the roles they are appointed to do and to protect patient safety.