Healthcare reference checks that chase themselves
For nurses, healthcare assistants, agency and bank staff. Your conduct questions on every request, chased by email and text, signed and filed.
What do healthcare reference checks involve?
Healthcare reference checks confirm a candidate's employment history and ask previous employers about competence, conduct, safeguarding and why they left. CQC-registered providers need this evidence under Regulation 19, and NHS organisations ask for references covering at least three years. RefAssure sends your questions, chases referees automatically and files a signed report, from 80p a reference with the first one free.
Which rules apply to you?
Healthcare references sit under different frameworks depending on who you are. RefAssure helps you gather the evidence each one asks for.
Independent hospitals, clinics, GP and dental practices and home care services follow Regulation 19 and Schedule 3: evidence of conduct in previous health or social care roles, and why that work ended.
NHS Employers publishes the Employment Check Standards. References should cover a minimum of three years of employment or training history. See our guide to NHS references.
NMC, GMC and HCPC register checks are separate from references. Ask referees about fitness to practise concerns as well.
What to ask healthcare referees.
Healthcare references need clinical and conduct detail, not just dates. Add these to your template once and they go out on every request.
Clinical competence
1 to 10 ratings for clinical skills, record keeping and medicines management, with room to comment.
Fitness to practise
Are you aware of any concerns that have been, or should be, raised with their professional regulator?
Safeguarding concerns
Were they the subject of any safeguarding concern or investigation involving patients? Yes or no, with details.
Conduct and disciplinary action
Any warnings, disciplinary action or ongoing investigations, and their outcome.
Dates, role and reason for leaving
A date range helps you confirm the three years of history the NHS standard asks you to cover.
Would you re-employ them?
Including on your bank. A plain yes or no that is hard to soften.
Already have a form? Upload it as a PDF or Word file and RefAssure turns it into a template in about 20 seconds. You check it before it goes out.
Nothing stalls before a shift.
An empty rota slot costs more than a reference. RefAssure chases, watches and records every request so you can see where each one stands.
A bounced request is flagged within minutes.
Ward email changed, inbox full or a trust address typed wrong. Add a new referee before the start date slips.
5 emails and up to 2 texts.
Over 12 days, stopping the moment the referee submits. After day 12 you are told so you can add another.
Replied by email? Captured.
Answers sent outside the form are saved against the candidate and forwarded to you.
An audit trail for inspection or client audit.
Candidate consent, every request, every reminder and the signed reference, all timestamped in one PDF for CQC, an NHS client or your own compliance team.
Agency and bank staff, without the backlog.
Agency nurse references and bank staff checks come in waves. Here is how the work changes when the chasing is done for you.
| Task | By hand | With RefAssure |
|---|---|---|
| Sending an NHS reference request | Find the right ward or HR address, write an email, attach a form | Add the referee, pick a template, press send |
| Chasing busy clinical referees | Calls between shifts, notes on a spreadsheet | 5 emails and up to 2 texts over 12 days, automatically |
| Covering three years of history | Easy to lose track across several referees | Every referee and status on one candidate page |
| Proving what was asked | Scanned forms and forwarded emails | Signed PDF with timestamps for consent, requests and completion |
| Cost | Hours of coordinator time | 99p to 80p a reference, no monthly fee, no VAT added |
Healthcare reference questions, answered.
More in the full FAQs.
What do healthcare reference checks involve?
A healthcare reference check confirms a candidate's employment history and asks previous employers about their competence, conduct, any fitness to practise or safeguarding concerns, and why they left. CQC-registered providers need this evidence under Regulation 19, and NHS organisations follow the NHS Employment Check Standards.
What are the NHS Employment Check Standards?
They are the pre-employment checks NHS organisations in England are expected to carry out, published by NHS Employers. One of the six covers employment history and references. Our guide to NHS references explains it in detail.
How many years of references does the NHS need?
The employment history and reference check standard asks for references covering a minimum of three years of employment or training history. If the last three years include several short roles or bank shifts, you may need more than one or two referees to cover the period.
Does the NHS give references?
Yes. NHS organisations do provide references for former staff, often through a central HR or workforce team, and some confirm just dates and job title. If you need your conduct questions answered, ask the candidate for their line manager as a referee as well.
Can an NHS reference be bad?
A reference can include negative information as long as it is true, accurate and fair. It should not give a misleading impression. That is why specific questions, signed answers and a record of who replied are worth more than a general letter.
Do references replace NMC, GMC or HCPC register checks?
No. Check the relevant professional register directly. References add what the register cannot show you: how the person actually practised, and whether their employer had any concerns that never reached the regulator.
How do agency nurse references work with RefAssure?
Add the nurse and their referees, choose your template and press send. The candidate consents online, each referee gets a secure link by email and text, and RefAssure sends 5 emails and up to 2 texts over 12 days until they reply. You get a signed PDF with a full audit trail.
Does RefAssure have NHS or NMC reference templates?
There are no built-in NHS, NMC or other sector templates. You add the questions your organisation expects to your template once, or upload the form you already use and RefAssure turns it into a template in about 20 seconds.
Related guides
Healthcare references, signed and filed.
Your first reference is free. Add a candidate, press send, and RefAssure does the chasing.