Ambulance firm investigated after allegedly warning driver applicant passengers would be ‘a bit mad’

A council’s ambulance provider is under investigation after a driving job applicant was allegedly told that some of his passengers would be “a bit mad”.

A member of the GMB union posing as a jobseeker also alleges that Impact – the company that supplies vehicles and drivers to Ealing Council – said that he could “start tomorrow”, despite the fact a criminal records check was needed for the role.

Impact said the alleged language used was “totally unacceptable” and pledged to investigate the allegation – as did Ealing Council.

However, Impact did concede that it would allow drivers to start work with vulnerable adults before their checks had come through from the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB).

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

Email(Required)

OptOut

From time to time, we will send you emails about selected products, events and services from Personnel Today and OHW+ - but you can choose to opt-out at any time. If you do not wish to receive these emails, please tick this box.

Name

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Δ

“While we may invite a new driver to start immediately, there would always be a period of induction, training and accompanied driving under the supervision of CRB-checked staff while the new member’s check is carried out,” said a spokeswoman.