The JEP asked the department to outline its employment policy after it emerged that Emke Fopma, who had been employed as an orthopaedic surgeon for eight years, resigned after the Hospital received an anonymous tip-off about the offence, which he had kept hidden from employers when he applied for his job.
Today, Health said that its recruitment process ‘exceeds current NHS standards’ but admitted that criminal offences committed outside the UK may not be ‘picked up’ during background checks due to difficulties in accessing information from other jurisdictions.
In 2012 Enhanced UK Disclosure and Barring Service checks were brought in to replace the old criminal record checks and are conducted on all doctors employed by Health before they take up their job. The department said the checks look to the UK and, where possible, around the world.
The department said that it undertook a ‘police clearance’ on Mr Fopma when he began work in 2007 – no doctors currently working for Health have disclosed any convictions at the level of seriousness that would prevent them being considered for a role, the department said.
