Our approach to recruitment

Yes, however you can save your profile on the NHS Jobs website with your personal information, qualifications, employment history, references and supporting information so you do not need to duplicate information every time you apply for a new role, however you can edit it.

You should normally receive a copy of your DBS check within four weeks however at certain times of the year, the DBS has a backlog of applications to process which may cause a delay in their response. Enhanced checks normally take longer than standard checks.

We require references that will cover the previous three years and if you are external to the Trust, we require a minimum of two references. If these are from currentor previous employers it will need to be from your manager or line manager, if it is an educational reference it will need to be someone that had taught you or was a mentor, etc. We can accept personal references, but this must be someone in a professional setting who you have known for at least two years. We can only accept professional email addresses; these do not include Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo, etc.

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) was formed by the merger of the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and the Independent Safeguarding Authority in December 2012. The primary role of the DBS is to help employers make safer recruitment decisions and prevent unsuitable people from working with vulnerable groups including children. You can find out more information on the DBS, its history and its work by visiting the website, www.gov.uk/dbs.

Unfortunately we cannot accept DBS certificates from another organisation, as we need to be the employer running the new DBS check, however if you have a previous one it should speed up the length of time to complete, as the new check we run will be from the date of your last DBS certificate to present day. (We can however use the DBS update service if you have signed up to this. We can your most recent certificate against the update service)

You will be required to bring your DBS certificate which is linked to your update service into the Recruitment Office, in order for your Recruitment Administrator to run an online check.

Identification Documents. The following documents are accepted for proof of Identity and to confirm your Right to Work: You will need a combination of 2 proofs of photographic ID and a proof of address OR one photographic ID and two proofs of address. Photo Driving Licence, Passport, Birth Certificate, Bank Statement and Utility Bill within the last three months are the main ID documents we accept. We do not accept mobile phone/TV licence or Insurance bills. We do accept Council Tax/Water bills which are annual statements but must be for the current year. Please use this link to select your combination of ID documents to see if this is enough to satisfy NHS standards and DBS requirements (if applicable): https://apps.trac.jobs/candidate/iddocs If you have any queries relating to your ID documents, please contact the Recruitment Team prior to attending your interview. Right to Work Documents. Passport or Birth Certificate with proof of your National Insurance Number (NI card or HMRC letter). All documents must be originals or certified copies, in date, valid and show your current name and address. If the name on your documents do not match your current name, please bring the relevant documents with you to evidence the change – marriage certificate, deed poll certificate, etc.

The ID is required to complete an identity check as well as the DBS check; this contributes to your mandatory employment clearances. Names and addresses will need to match your application form.

This is at the discretion of the hiring manager, and therefore we cannot guarantee a skype interview, however we do offer this occasionally. If the hiring manager is able to accommodate this request, we will require your Skype ID in advance.

This is dependent on the interview schedule and the discretion of the hiring manager, and therefore we cannot guarantee an alternative date/time, however please contact your Recruitment Administrator to discuss.

Clearances may be required if records are not up to date and we must comply with NHS Standards and Employment Law. Identification and a new DBS may be required if the level of DBS is not relevant to the job role. A new occupational health clearance may be required if it is a change of job role or department. We only ask for new checks if they are required and this is for the safety of the employee as well as the patients within the hospital.

If you are internal (employed by Somerset partnership or Taunton and Somerset) your current salary will be matched. If you are coming from an external NHS Trust, we will need proof of salary through the most recent NHS pay slip. If you are external to the NHS this is manager’s discretion but is possible through proof of salary from a pay slip and a salary justification form to be completed by the manager and the finance department. We cannot guarantee that your salary will be matched; you should discuss this with your new manager.

You will be able to start once all clearances have been retained, this will be confirmed by an unconditional offer letter sent from the recruitment team. You are not safe to begin employment at the trust without acceptable clearances unless this has been discussed with a member of the recruitment team prior to starting. If you are looking to arrange a start date and are not sure if you have cleared please contact the recruitment team to confirm.

The NHS Employment Check Standards outline the mandatory checks employers must carry out in the appointment, and ongoing employment, of all individuals in the NHS. NHS Employers has developed these standards with the Department of Health and employers in the NHS. The standards include those checks that are required by law, those that are Department of Health (DH) policy and those that are required for access to the NHS Care Record Service. The six areas below make up the NHS Employment Check Standards: 1. Verification of identity checks 2. Right to Work checks 3. Registration and qualification checks 4. Employment history and reference checks 5. Criminal Record checks and Model Declaration Forms 6. Occupational Health checks