§ Tim LoughtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures are in place to vet hospital cleaners for criminal records. [24298]
§ Mr. HuttonAll national health service workers are asked to declare criminal convictions as part of the recruitment process. Currently checks are made against police records for all posts involving substantial unsupervised access to children. From 1 March the commencement of the Criminal Records Bureau 673W disclosure service will allow checks to be made on a much wider range of posts including hospital cleaners who have access to patients in the normal course of their work.