Hospital employed illegal workers (From Borehamwood Times)

Hospital employed illegal workers

9:39am Thursday 15th May 2008

• Print
• Email
• Share

Illegal immigrants worked with patients in hospitals serving residents of Hertsmere, it has emerged.

Seven people employed by Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals Trust were found to be working in the country illegally following Government investigations last year. Most of the workers were healthcare assistants who performed basic tasks such as washing and feeding patients, serving food and changing bed sheets. However one was employed as a nurse and two more as medical technical officers, who used sophisticated scientific equipment to read and analyse symptoms and help doctors diagnose illnesses. Barnet Hospital serves around two thirds of Hertsmere residents who require medical assistance. One of the technical officers, who was originally from Ghana, was deported by the Government following the investigation. It has not been revealed whether he or she was qualified to perform the highly-skilled role.Others declared their nationalities to be Trinidadian, Mauritian and Philippino. A spokeswoman for the trust said it had been working with the Home Office since January 2007, leading to several investigations and arrests. She said: "We undertake full pre-employment checks of staff including both their immigration and criminal conviction status. The trust has robust checks but no system is entirely secure from people with criminal intent."Five of the seven workers arrived in the country legally but overstayed their visa. They have since been given leave to stay in Britain by the Home Office. The remaining two were the Ghanaian technical officer and another staff member who was also deported after posing as a British citizen in order to work as a healthcare assistant. Councillor Brenda Batten, Hertsmere Borough Council's health portfolio holder, said: "It's very concerning. Where we take on any staff, wherever they are from, strict screening policies should be used. "They are obviously not stringent enough. With qualification, especially where people are working with patients, they have to be correctly checked. "Things do slip through because people can make up documents and so on if they want to be underhand." A spokesman for NHS Employers, the branch of the service responsible for employment issues, defended the system of pre-employment checks as "robust."He said: "The NHS has relied on staff from overseas for many years and, in the vast majority of cases, the rigorous checks that are in place have ensured that all those who are offered employment have a legitimate right to work in the UK."However, in recent years an extremely small number of illegal immigrants have been found to be working in the NHS, but we understand that they have all now been removed and appropriate measures have been taken to prevent them from working in the NHS again."

• Print
• Email
• Share