We understand that patient safety is vital to your organisation and DBS checks can help you to make safe recruitment decisions, whilst preventing unsuitable candidates from being hired.
How does the DBS update service work?
Credentially has an integration with the public DBS Update Service. This is an online subscription paid by the staff member that lets employers carry out a free, instant online check to view the status of an existing standard or enhanced DBS certificate.
We can only perform this check for staff members who are registered to this service. We recommend you encourage your staff member to register on the update service when they get their new DBS certificates. they need to do this within 30 days of the certificate issue date.
How to add DBS checks to onboarding
To apply for a new certificate or add their certificate details if already registered on the update service, add it as a new step.
Open the 'Organisation Settings' tab.
Open the 'Onboarding' subtab.
Click 'Edit'.
You will see the onboarding constructor. Click on the '+ Add New Step' sign. Choose the 'DBS Check':
5. The step can be configured as optional or mandatory for any roles in your organisation. Configure required set-up by clicking "Edit Step Configuration".
6. When you are all done, click 'Save draft' and then 'Publish'.
During the onboarding process the staff member enters their DBS certificate number and confirms their consent that the check can be made, Credentially will start monitoring. You will be notified if a staff member status changes. For the criminal conviction and barring information, the DBS will search for updates weekly. For non-conviction information, the DBS will search for updates every nine months.
How to add DBS Check details post-onboarding
You can check a staff member's DBS certificate at any time via the staff member profile:
Open the staff member's profile on STAFF dashboard.
Open the 'DBS Check' tab.
Click the 'Add new DBS'.
Add staff member personal details and confirm you have the staff member's consent to check.
Click 'Submit to DBS'.
6. You will get an instant result from the DBS Update Service.
How to check the status of a certificate from a staff member profile
A user may have several certificates. In this case, the certificate with the latest issue date will be displayed as an 'Active DBS Certificate' (see the screenshot above).
If a staff members certificate is clear the result will look like this:
Credentially tip: The DBS update service does NOT provide the level of disclosure. To check this, you must ask the staff member to share the certificate registered on the service.
Credentially tip: You can add a DBS check from the 'Document' tab. Read on how to convert a DBS certificate to DBS Update Service Check here.
If a user has a "View history" permission or in their own profile the "View history" permission becomes available.
History is available for both active and archived certificates and a watermarked PDF file can be exported using the CRTL & P keys:
How to delete DBS Update Service Record?
To delete a record, go to a user's profile, click on the 'DBS Check' tab, and find a DBS record you want to delete. Click on the trash bin on the right hand side of the page, as below.
Credentially tip: Only administrators who have permission to view and edit 'DBS Update Service Info' can delete a DBS Update Service Record.