Screening of Overseas Healthcare Workers in Care Homes
Author Information
Author(s): Joanne M Alner, David Hagen, Sue Andrews, Rachel Loveday, Hugo C van Woerden
Primary Institution: Public Health Department, Wandsworth Teaching PCT
Hypothesis
Are residential and nursing homes adequately screening overseas healthcare workers?
Conclusion
The study found that screening of overseas healthcare workers is not routine practice in residential or nursing care homes.
Supporting Evidence
- Only one employer (0.8%) reported having an occupational health screening policy for overseas healthcare workers.
- Over 80% of homes that recruited directly had no evidence of screening results for HIV, TB, Hepatitis B and C.
- 21% of healthcare workers were considered to have originated from overseas.
Takeaway
Most care homes in the UK are not checking if healthcare workers from other countries are healthy before hiring them.
Methodology
An anonymous survey was sent to all 500 homes in West Sussex assessing occupational health practices for overseas healthcare workers.
Potential Biases
Some managers may have been reluctant to share sensitive information, potentially skewing results.
Limitations
The response rate was only 20%, which may limit the generalizability of the findings.
Participant Demographics
The study included responses from various public and private sector care homes.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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