50,000 NHS workers have still not had a criminal record check

Research by BBC Radio Five Live said the number of workers who have not been vetted by the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) could top 50,000.

Currently, trusts are not required to vet employees who have worked for them since before the CRB was established in 2002.

Every trust in the UK was surveyed and found 61 per cent had not vetted existing staff.

Only 29 per cent had conducted checks, and the remaining 10 per cent did not answer or were not applicable.

However, many trusts said employees in sensitive posts such as paediatrics would have undergone police checks under the previous vetting regime.

Guidelines on a new vetting system within the NHS are due to come into effect in autumn next year.

New staff and those who change jobs within the NHS are already required to face CRB checks.