Enhanced DBS check: An enhanced DBS check is the highest standard level of criminal record check, and for CQC registration it must normally be an enhanced check with the appropriate barred list check, countersigned by CQC where the applicant is not a registered healthcare professional.
For registration purposes CQC expects the certificate to be recent, normally issued within the last 12 months, and obtained through CQC rather than transferred from an existing employer.
The timing catches people out. Checks can take a long time to come back, and the certificate has to be in place before the application is submitted rather than promised alongside it. Building the wait into the plan is the difference between a smooth application and a rejected one.
A DBS check is a point-in-time snapshot, not a safe recruitment system. CQC expects it to sit alongside references, employment history with gaps explained, and the other checks that make up safer recruitment.