Nursery World - Vetting process 'will miss crucial data'

A former local authority senior inspection and registration officer has expressed concern that new arrangements for vetting childcare staff do not include routine access to GP and social work records. In Nursery World Scotland this week, Drew McCanney, who managed the early years section of Fife Council's inspection unit and is now an early years trainer and consultant, says anecdotal evidence suggests when local authorities vetted applicants for childcare posts prior to April, checks of GP and social work records were responsible for more individuals being deemed unfit to work with children than criminal records checks.

In Nursery World Scotland this week, Drew McCanney, who managed the early years section of Fife Council's inspection unit and is now an early years trainer and consultant, says anecdotal evidence suggests when local authorities vetted applicants for childcare posts prior to April, checks of GP and social work records were responsible for more individuals being deemed unfit to work with children than criminal records checks.

In McCanney's experience, GP and social worker checks revealed information about abuse, domestic violence and concerns over childcare practice that were not recorded or known about elsewhere.

Childcare service providers are now responsible for vetting their own staff and are unlikely to obtain the same level of information from GPs as local authorities were able to. They also do not have the same ready access to social work records, which were often held in the same department as the local authority inspection unit.

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