NHS Job Offer - Please Help!

kerryr1987

Hi everyone,

I have been offered the position of Clerical Officer with the NHS (they informed me verbally yesterday) and said I would receive an email outlining the next steps.

I understand they need to carry out pre-employment checks before I will be given a start date.

I have a few questions as other forums do state that people have had to wait a while for a start date.

1. How long does it take for them to send me the letter by email outlining the next steps?, the conditional offer of employment?

2. My previous employer who I worked for 2 years is happy to provide a reference but the employer before that which I stayed with for 2 and a half years has gone bankrupt and so the business is no longer in existence and I wouldn't know how to contact the director, would a character reference be ok as I think I need 2 references?

3. I will need to have a DBS check which is fine and I have never been i trouble, how long will it take for this to come back?, I believe it is a standard check.

Any tips or help you can also give regarding the checks would be very much appreciated as I am keen to start working for them but have heard that people have sometimes had to wait months for a start date.

Thanks in advance.

ctbfc

kerryr1987 wrote: »

Hi everyone,

I have been offered the position of Clerical Officer with the NHS (they informed me verbally yesterday) and said I would receive an email outlining the next steps.

I understand they need to carry out pre-employment checks before I will be given a start date.

I have a few questions as other forums do state that people have had to wait a while for a start date.

1. How long does it take for them to send me the letter by email outlining the next steps?, the conditional offer of employment?

2. My previous employer who I worked for 2 years is happy to provide a reference but the employer before that which I stayed with for 2 and a half years has gone bankrupt and so the business is no longer in existence and I wouldn't know how to contact the director, would a character reference be ok as I think I need 2 references?

3. I will need to have a DBS check which is fine and I have never been i trouble, how long will it take for this to come back?, I believe it is a standard check.

Any tips or help you can also give regarding the checks would be very much appreciated as I am keen to start working for them but have heard that people have sometimes had to wait months for a start date.

Thanks in advance.

I work for the NHS and have done previously in various roles. Whenever I move they take absolutely ages to do their checks, anything up to a couple of months. It was very frustrating - especially as in one case I was already doing the job as a temp.

I was allowed to start working before the DBS check came back - although I think that's probably because the organisation I worked for at the time was a shambles

tiredoflife

Firstly, congratulations on your new job!

It does usually take a while for HR to get there bum into gear from experience. When we recruit someone it usually takes 2-3 months. For reference, we have a member of bank staff (temp) who applied for the role he was doing on a permanent basis back in April, he was only cleared at the start of the month.

I'm not sure about the references, I'm sure someone else will come along and offer some advice.

kerryr1987

Thank you for your replies, how long do you think I would be waiting for the initial letter offering conditional employment following on from the verbal job offer yesterday?

ctbfc

kerryr1987 wrote: »

Thank you for your replies, how long do you think I would be waiting for the initial letter offering conditional employment following on from the verbal job offer yesterday?

That came through pretty quickly for me - allow a week or so depending on how quickly they process their mail. IIRC that just says you can agree a start date with your manager once we've received all references and done checks etc

Just_a_Girl_2

I work in the NHS and have changed roles three times in the past 5 years. The first time I moved I was with the same Trust but it still took me 6 weeks to transfer. The last time I moved to a completely new trust and it took 10 weeks before I could start.

Edited to add: When I first got the job in the NHS it took 10 weeks for me to get a start date, which was difficult as I was moving from England to Wales and had a house, etc to sort out.

kerryr1987

Wow that's quite a long time to wait, should I just take on some temp jobs in the meantime would you think or do they need you to attend things at short notice as part of your checks?

tiredoflife

If you can take temp jobs in the meantime i would. As we have all said, it can take a while even if you transfer within the trust. Might be worth joining the staff bank in the meantime to get some clerical work? Can only be beneficial to your permanent position.

GothicStirling

1. I received my paperwork within a week. When you receive it, sort it out straight away. The NHS holds the right to withdraw the job offer if they don't get the information within a certain time.

2. The NHS require a checkable work history of 5 years (I think). As I had a period on JSA I had to supply a character reference, as well as my references.

3. My DBS took 6 weeks. From job offer to start date was about 10 weeks (but I think they expressed it, as it was a new hospital opening). It also depends on what type of DBS, working with children and vulnerable adults requires a higher level DBS. As you are dealing with people's confidential information, I expect you will probably need one of those.

You also need to go through a medical questionnaire, and attend Occupational Health for a Hep B vaccination (3 shots and a blood test).

Murphybear

Wow, how things have changed! I went to an agency in 1973 and they got me a job in the NHS in a laboratory. I started work a few days later. No checks or anything, no health screen, few references.

polgara

Just need to point out in HR's defence that the time for DBS to complete is outside of their/our control. I have had appointments be confirmed within 10 days (references permitting) and worst case once took several months due to a delay with DBS. In some cases we have allowed people to start without DBS clearance as long as they are never alone with vulnerable clients.