Weighing the evidence: a case for using vignettes to elicit public and practitioner views of the workings of the POVA vetting and barring scheme

This article describes research investigating the steps involved in recommending to the Secretary of State for Health whether a care worker should be included on the Protection of Vulnerable Adults (POVA) list, which records individuals barred from working and volunteering with vulnerable adults in England and Wales.The aims of the study were to investigate patterns of referrals to the list; factors associated with the collection of evidence to present to the Minister and to detail the operation of the list.The article focuses on the preliminary part of the research that covered discussion groups with purposive sample of older people, managers and staff during which a vignette approach was used to explore their perspectives.

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